Young People and the Environment: An Asia-Pacific Perspective (Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects)

Young People and the Environment

EDUCATION IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION: ISSUES, CONCERNS AND PROSPECTS Volume 1 Series Editors-in-Chief: Dr. Rupert Maclean, UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Education, Bonn; and Ryo Watanabe, National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER) of Japan, Tokyo Editorial Board Robyn Baker, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Wellington, New Zealand Dr Boediono, National Office for Research and Development, Ministry of National Education, Indonesia Professor Yin Cheong Cheng, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, China Dr. Wendy Duncan, Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines Professor John Keeves, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia Dr. Zhou Mansheng, National Centre for Educational Development Research, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China Professor Colin Power, Graduate School of Education, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia Professor J. S. Rajput, National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, India Professor Konai Helu Thaman, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Advisory Board Professor Mark Bray, Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong, China; Dr Agnes Chang, National Institute of Education, Singapore; Dr. Nguyen Huu Chau, National Institute for Educational Sciences, Vietnam; Professor John Fien, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia; Professor Leticia Ho, University of the Philippines, Manila; Dr. Inoira Lilamaniu Ginige, National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka; Professor Phillip Hughes, ANU Centre for UNESCO, Canberra, Australia; Dr. Inayatullah, Pakistan Association for Continuing and Adult Education, Karachi; Dr. Rung Kaewdang, Office of the National Education Commission, Bangkok. Thailand; Dr. Chong-Jae Lee, Korean Educational Development Institute, Seoul; Dr. Molly Lee, School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang; Mausooma Jaleel, Maldives College of Higher Education, Male; Professor Geoff Masters, Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne; Dr. Victor Ordonez, Senior Education Fellow, East-West Center, Honolulu; Dr. Khamphay Sisavanh, National Research Institute of Educational Sciences, Ministry of Education, Lao PDR; Dr Max Walsh, AUSAid Basic Education Assistance Project, Mindanao, Philippines.

Young People and the Environment An Asia-Pacific Perspective

Edited by

JOHN FIEN Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

DAVID YENCKEN The University of Melbourne, Australia and

HELEN SYKES The Trust for Young Australians, Melbourne, Australia

KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS NEW YORK, BOSTON, DORDRECHT, LONDON, MOSCOW

eBook ISBN: Print ISBN:

0-306-47721-1 1-4020-0944-5

©2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow Print ©2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers Dordrecht All rights reserved No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written consent from the Publisher Created in the United States of America Visit Kluwer Online at: and Kluwer's eBookstore at:

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SERIES SCOPE

The purpose of this Book Series is to meet the needs of those interested in an in-depth analysis of current developments in education and schooling in the vast and diverse AsiaPacific Region. The Series will be invaluable for educational researchers, policy makers and practitioners, who want to better understand the major issues, concerns and prospects regarding educational developments in the Asia-Pacific region. The Series compliments the Handbook of Educational Research in the Asia-Pacific Region, with the elaboration of specific topics, themes and case studies in greater breadth and depth than is possible in the Handbook. Topics to be covered in the Series include: secondary education reform; reorientation of primary education to achieve education for all; re-engineering education for change; the arts in education; evaluation and assessment; the moral curriculum and values education; technical and vocational education for the world of work; teachers and teaching in society; organisation and management of education; education in rural and remote areas; and, education of the disadvantaged. Although specifically focusing on major educational innovations for development in the Asia-Pacific region, the Series is directed at an international audience. The Series Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, and the Handbook of Educational Research in the Asia-Pacific Region, are both publications of the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association. Those interested in obtaining more information about the Series, or who wish to explore the possibility of contributing a manuscript, should (in the first instance) contact the publishers.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of contributors Acknowledgements Introduction

ix xi xiii

1

Young People and the Environment: A Cross-cultural Study – David Yencken

1

2

Japan – Brendan Barrett, Osamu Abe, Eiichiro Harako and Satoshi Ishikawa

9

3

China - Guangzhou – Cheng Ge, Philip Stimpson and Wang Bing Kwan

23

4

China - Hong Kong – Philip Stimpson

39

5

Thailand – Rapeepun Suwannatachote, Chatchai Ratanachai and Wiwat Lee India – M.J.Ravindranath

53

7

Singapore – Lily Kong and Yee Sze Onn

79

8

Brunei Darussalam – Irene P.A. Cheong

93

9

Australia – John Fien, David Yencken, Sharon Connell, and Helen Sykes

103

10

Aotearoa - New Zealand – Paul Keown

115

11

Fiji – Premila Kumar

127

12

United States of America – Amy J. Malkus and Jana L. Meinhold

139

6

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viii 13

Synthesis: A Cross-cultural Reflection – John Fien

Appendix: Survey Questionnaire

151

173

CONTRIBUTORS Australia

Sharon Connell and John Fien, Griffith University, Brisbane Helen Sykes, Trust for Young Australians, Melbourne David Yencken, University of Melbourne

Brunei, Darussalum China

Irene P.A. Cheong, University of Brunei Darussalam Cheng Ge, Guangzhou University Philip Stimpson, University of Hong Kong Wang Bing Kwan, Lai King Catholic Secondary School, Hong Kong

Fiji

Premila Kumar, Ministry of the Environment, Suva

India

M. J. Ravindranath, Centre for Environmental Education, Bangalore

Japan

Osamu Abe, Saitama University, Urawa Brendan Barrett, The United Nations University, Tokyo Eiichiro Harako, Tokyo Gakugei University, Tokyo Satoshi Ichikawa, Shiga University, Shiga

New Zealand

Paul Keown, The University of Waikato, Hamilton

Singapore

Lily Kong, National University of Singapore Yee Sze Onn, National Institute of Education

Thailand

Chatchai Ratanachai, Rapeepun Suwannatachote and Wiwat Lee, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai

United States of America

Amy Malkus and Jana Meinhold, Washington State University

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book is the product of regional study in the Asia Pacific. Teams in more than a dozen countries used a consistent methodology to investigate the attitudes of young people towards the environment and the cultural context in which those attitudes have developed. In the light of the findings, the study has also investigated and made recommendations about environmental education across the region. The completed work is a tribute to the interest, scholarly commitment and inter-cultural understanding and skills of the research teams named in the list of contributors and at the head of every chapter. While all the research teams were able to secure the resources needed to conduct the surveys and analyse the data that they collected in their own countries, we would like to acknowledge a grant from the Australian Research Council which provided support for the overall research. We would like to thank Hok Pan Yuen and Florence Choo for their advice about and assistance with the data analysis. We would also like to thank Rupert Maclean, former Chief of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre of Educational Innovation and Development, who facilitated a meeting of the research team in Bangkok.

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Introduction by the Series Editors All countries want development, because this implies improvement; and they also want development that is long term, and therefore sustainable. But communities increasingly want development that does not only stress economic matters but which pays greater attention to important social, cultural, political and environmental considerations. Increasingly countries (and certainly young people) are not willing to accept economic development at any cost; and expect the benefits of development to reach all sections of the community. Numerous United Nations meetings (such as the first United Nations Conference on Human Development held in Stockholm in 1972; the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro; the 2002 Earth Summit in Johannesburg; and subsequent conferences) have stressed the importance of paying greater attention to improving the environment and of achieving sustainable development. As the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Bluntland Report, 1987) puts it: ‘Sustainability refers to the integration of environmental, economic and social considerations in development that optimises human and natural welfare and integrity for present and future generations.’ In essence, this means not living beyond our collective ecological means and not mortgaging the future for present benefit. In many fields of endeavour there has been a reorientation of thinking and action to lay an increasing emphasis on the notion of ‘sustainability’ whether it be a sustainable environment, sustainable economic development, sustainable agriculture and rural development, sustainable food security, sustainable socio-economic development and so on. There has also been a move to think in terms of an ecology-based environmental ethic. Ecology and environment are not the same thing. Ecology is a biological science term relating to the study of relationships of living organisms with each other and their environment. The environment is the aggregate of external conditions (‘surroundings’) that influence the life of an individual organism or population. It is also recognised that education systems need to adapt and change to best meet such challenges in our various societies. As education systems are modified to accommodate the inclusion of environmental education and education for sustainable development, it is now widely accepted that to be most effective, a transdisciplinary, holistic approach should be adopted which emphasises the importance and inter-relatedness of the environment as a whole and the interdependence of its parts.

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xiv There is also a need not only to educate the head, but also the hand and, perhaps most importantly, the heart. It is not enough that learners simply know, in a factual knowledge sense, about such matters as the problem of greenhouse gasses or various other forms of environmental degradation, but that they also understand that such problems also reflect the values and attitudes to development that are deeply embedded in our continuously evolving, modernising societies. It is also essential that they are keenly aware of the fact that to address such problems a careful examination of the ethical dimensions of human behaviour is necessary. This is where the moral education aspects of environmental education come into play with reference to ethics, values, attitudes, the clash between traditional cultural values and modernisation, and the like. This publication, the first to be published in a Series devoted to examining Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, presents the views of young people on environmental issues in the Asia-Pacific region. It is clear from the research reported upon here that many youth are increasingly concerned about the environment and with finding sustainable ways of living in harmony with each other, and with the Earth. Environmental issues are of special concern to young people and youth, world-wide, at the current time. As the authors of this important book clearly demonstrate, youth are also concerned with coming to terms with finding a harmonious balance between modernisation and tradition; between global and local concerns, and between the materialistic and spiritual aspects of what it means to be a fully functioning and socially responsible human being in the twenty-first century. The research reported upon in this book has much to say that is of relevance and value to educational policy makers and practitioners as they seek to re-engineer education systems to ensure they effectively cope with the emerging challenges concerning environment and sustainability, in both developing and developed countries alike.

Rupert Maclean, Director of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre, Bonn Germany and

Ryo Watanabe, Director, Department of International Education, National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER) of Japan, Tokyo

DAVID YENCKEN

1 YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY

The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most diverse in the world. It includes the world’s highest mountain ranges, some of its largest areas of desert, tropical forests of great richness and diversity, and some of the world’s greatest rivers including the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Yellow, Yangtze, and Mekong rivers. It includes great continental nations such as China and India, the two most populous nations in the world, many smaller countries with large populations such as Indonesia and Thailand, nation continents such as Australia with huge landmasses but with very small populations, and geographically tiny but very influential city-states such as Singapore. It also includes island nations of astonishing diversity ranging from Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea to New Zealand and Fiji. The diversity of geographical form and settlement is matched by the diversity of cultures and traditions. Major language groups represented in the Asia Pacific include Turkic, Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, Mon-Khmer, Anamese, Sino-Tibetan-Chinese, Australian (Aboriginal) and Austronesian together with Germanic and Italic (or Romance) languages from European settlement in countries throughout the region. Within these families there are very many individual languages. In Papua New Guinea alone there are some 700 distinct languages. All the great religions in the world, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Judaism are present in the region in a bewildering variety of alternative forms. They are matched by an even greater variety of local religious traditions. Powerful international secular traditions such as Marxism/Communism have also been very influential, particularly in China and Vietnam. Democratic systems of many different kinds, from the most open to the most restricted, are to be found across the region. The region includes economically developed countries such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand, countries that are rapidly developing such as China, India, and Korea, and others that are at an earlier stage of development. Just as there is great economic diversity between countries in the region, there are also extremes of wealth and poverty between and within individual countries. 1 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 1—8. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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The Asia Pacific region has experienced some of the world’s most significant economic growth in the last decades. Despite recent setbacks, the region is still expected to become a dominant economic centre during this century, matching if not surpassing the two current dominant centres, the USA and the European Union. Japan is already one of the world’s leading economies. Singapore, Taiwan and Korea have all enjoyed remarkable growth. China is regularly predicted to become the largest economy in the world in the current century. India has also experienced significant economic growth. Despite being home to some of the world’s largest and fastest growing economies, the Asia Pacific region is also one of great poverty. The acute impact of the 1997 economic collapse in the region is evidence of the precarious nature of some of the last three decades of development efforts. Thus, the Asia Pacific region is home to over two-thirds of the world’s poor while an equal percentage lack basic literacy. Populations have doubled over the past forty years and are still on the increase, and the environmental and social effects of such numbers are beginning to take their toll. Thus UNESCO has noted that: By the year 2040, the population of the Asia Pacific region is expected to have doubled to an astounding 3.3 billion people. The region is already home to 63 percent of the world’s population – China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The world has never seen such growth in so short a time. By 2040 requirements for food will have doubled and the need for water and sanitation quadrupled. The consumption of energy and manufactured goods will increase fivefold, while pollution may increase up to tenfold. (UNESCO-PROAP, 1996)

The environmental costs have already been very high. Environmental conditions in Asia and the Pacific are becoming increasingly well-documented, as seen in reports of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (1990), the World Bank (1993), the Asian Development Bank (1997) and the United Nations Environmental Programme’s Global Environmental Outlook reports (UNEP 1997 and 1999). These publications paint a generally bleak picture of a descending spiral of unsustainable development. The Asian Development Bank’s report Emerging Asia: Changes and Challenges (1997), states that: Asia is the world’s most polluted and environmentally degraded region . . . The range of environmental problems is huge – from the degradation of rural land to the pollution and congestion of the region’s mega cities, (p. 201)

The environmental problems of the Asia Pacific region have also to be understood within a global picture of continuing environmental degradation. In this book we do not comment further on these overall trends and threats but for those interested they are fully documented in the two UNEP reports, cited above, the publications of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the predictions from its supercomputer modelling of the Hadley Centre of the British Meteorological Office, Earthwatch publications and publications of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre and many other similar reports.

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THE RESEARCH It is for all these different reasons that studies of environmental conditions, attitudes and behaviour in the Asia Pacific region are of such significance. The focus of the research reported and discussed in this book is on attitudes to nature and on environmental practices and responses in the Asia Pacific region. The research was carried out in ten main countries: Australia, Brunei, China, Fiji, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and the USA (as a country of great size and influence bordering the region). Researchers from other countries, including Korea, Indonesia (Bali), the Philippines and Papua New Guinea also participated in aspects of the study. The research had two main components. The first part was a review of the cultural influences on environmental attitudes, behaviour and institutional responses in individual countries. This part of the research provided a brief picture of the land and society, a review of traditional attitudes to nature, and a summary of the state of the environment and the politics of the environment in each country or region. It also reviewed adult environmental attitudes, the development of environmental education and the attitudes of young people as reflected in other studies in the country concerned. Summary commentaries on this part of the research are included in individual chapters of this book. The second part of the research involved detailed comparative investigations of the attitudes, awareness and behaviour of young people across the region. These specific studies were carried out in Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia; Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei; Guang Zhou and Hong Kong, China; Bangalore, India; Tokyo, Japan; Auckland and Hamilton, New Zealand; Singapore; Hat Yai, Thailand; Suva, Fiji and Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland, USA. These comparative studies of young people had two components. The first was a comprehensive questionnaire survey, administered in class (See Appendix A). The second was focus group discussion with smaller groups of students to explore their feelings about these issues. The questionnaire surveys examined: National priorities Assessments of environmental problems, nationally and globally Beliefs about the economy and environment Environmental beliefs Awareness and knowledge Behaviour Influences on behaviour Sources and assessed reliability of information Frequency of discussion in school and at home. Over 10,000 questionnaires were administered across the region. In the parallel focus group studies the themes discussed were: Hopes and fears about the future Concerns about the future Sources of information Causes of environmental problems

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Societal actions needed to improve environmental quality Personal actions to improve the environment. The focus group studies thus revisited many of the questions posed in the questionnaire surveys. The intent was to explore these questions in greater depth and to allow young people to frame their responses in their own words. Overall hopes and fears about the future were discussed first to provide a general framework for the understanding of environmentally related attitudes and beliefs.

ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION, AND SOCIETY IN THE ASIA PACIFIC Environment Education and Society in the Asia Pacific (Yencken, Fien and Sykes 2000) is a sister publication to this book. It not only provides a full description of the cultural backgrounds affecting attitudes to nature and environmental responses in different countries and sub-regions of the Asia Pacific, it also sets out the theoretical approach taken in the research. While we do not repeat all the arguments here, it is useful to summarise some key points. Two key concerns in our research with young people across the Asia Pacific region were the continuing strength and influence of local traditions and the degree to which a shared cultural model about the environment might be emerging among young people across the region and by extension the world. To explore these questions, we first examined the debate about attitudes to nature in eastern and western cultures. We concluded that attitudes to nature and environmentalism of the East and West have different histories and different preoccupations and that environmentalism of rich and poor countries also have different trajectories. In poor countries environmentalism and ecological justice are often closely aligned. In many rich countries by contrast two interrelated traditions one stemming from John Muir and the other from Gifford Pinchot have been most influential. From the former has come the wilderness tradition and biocentrism and from the latter the notion of stewardship of the natural world to manage resources wisely for the good of the human race. There are also significant differences between the environmental experiences of men and women. These individual preoccupations, assumptions, trajectories and influences constitute important individual elements of local cultures. In all societies there are also traditional practices for the protection of nature that are of great importance to respect and retain. In these ways attitudes to nature are distinct and need individual cultural nurturing and respect. By contrast, various researchers have argued that there is evidence of the emergence of a global ideology or common cultural model of nature that transcends individual cultures (Pedersen 1995; Kempton et al. 1996). This has likely emerged from the growing scientific understanding of the damage being done to the global environment by human action and from the globalisation of communication about these findings. It is given expression in a great variety of ways. An example is the growing international agreement about principles such as sustainability, the precautionary principle and intra- and inter-generational equity. Another is the growth of international conventions and agreements. Another is the development of

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cross-national environmental ethical principles such as those embodied in the Earth Charter. Another is the growth of international environmental debates on websites and through e-mail networks. From the surveys and studies we carried out of young people across the region we found substantial evidence of such a global ideology of nature or shared cultural model about the environment. This is especially illustrated in common perceptions of environmental problems and shared beliefs. These commonalities are illustrated in the chapters that follow and summarised in the final chapter. At the same time we found very rich local traditions that might help to support and give local shape to actions which might achieve ecological sustainability. Despite the many positive actions being taken in individual countries and despite the growing number of international initiatives, environmental degradation is continuing. There is little evidence to suggest that it is possible to rely on either local traditions or the emerging global attitudes and approaches alone to achieve sustainability. Our research therefore provides strong support for those who argue that to achieve ecological sustainability we need a new fusion of the local and the global which combines local and global thinking and local and global action. The theoretical and methodological approach to the research

The research drew upon many other bodies of theory. We examined the relationship between cross-cultural research and post-modern and post-colonial theory and critique. We concluded that one of the great values of post-modern and post-colonial theory is their emphasis on the importance of cultural context and respect for difference. These bodies of theory also provide many useful cautions. There are, however, widely held scientific, social and biophilic paradigms relevant to our research which can be readily identified. Although these paradigms may not represent universal truths, their adoption can be usefully and profitably compared between different societies and cultures. An example is the extent of adoption of environmental paradigms such as the New Environmental Paradigm compared to previously widely held social paradigms (the Dominant Social Paradigm) as a means of charting change in belief systems about the environment. Cross cultural research. There are different types of cross-national research. The social-psychological research employed for our project belongs to the class where the nation is context for the research, that is to research concerned with individual attitudes and behaviours and their relationships to social structures and cultural frameworks in different countries. The literature suggests that, where there are significant differences between cultures, it is very difficult if not impossible to distinguish between the different influences on attitude and behaviour. Where there are significant similarities they are easier to interpret, although caution needs to be exercised. The concept of attitude. In the psychological literature it has been commonly held that attitude has three main dimensions: cognition (including knowledge and beliefs), affect (feelings) and conation (behavioural intent). While in practice it is often difficult to distinguish between these different dimensions, it is important to

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devote components of surveys to all these different dimensions to ensure that the full range of attitude is measured. It is also important to make distinctions between world views, beliefs and belief systems, social paradigms, values, ideologies, attitudes and opinions, however closely related they may be. There was other theories about the formation of attitudes and attitude change such as functional theories and theories of cognitive dissonance that was useful to keep in mind but not directly relevant to research devoted to existing attitudes. The relationship of attitude to behaviour. The literature illustrates the problematic relationship between attitude and behaviour. No attempt should therefore be made to infer that any particular behaviour can be expected to follow from any particular attitude. It is, however, valuable to assess past behaviour and behavioural intent since these would have the closest relationship to future behaviour. The means of assessing environmental attitudes. There is now considerable experience with environmental attitude research and a considerable body of theory about it. Drawing upon the theories of attitude and of attitude and behaviour relationships, survey instruments should include questions about environmental feelings, beliefs, knowledge, sources of knowledge, past behaviour, and behavioural intent. There are well tested groups of questions and scales that are useful to consider. Environmental paradigm change, as described above, is particularly interesting to assess. The strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative research. We concluded that each has important strengths but also significant weaknesses. It is therefore important to employ both forms of research. For the research into the attitudes of young people we therefore chose a combination of lengthy questionnaire surveys and focus group studies. We also concluded that there is strong validation in the overall literature of the importance of setting the specific research within a general cultural framework for each community and society. (Yencken et al 2001: pp.30-45) To ensure the greatest possible comparability between the different country samples, we determined that the survey comparisons should be between students from high performing schools, defined to mean the schools providing the largest cohorts of university students in the city in which the research was being carried out. We also determined that the research should be confined to students from urban areas to reduce variability in the samples. We asked that schools from this group of high performing schools should be representative of different school systems, where appropriate, and should be randomly chosen. We then asked that the students surveyed should include the whole year level, wherever possible. The questionnaire survey instrument was designed and extensively trialled in Australia in two different cities, Melbourne and Brisbane. It was then sent to the research collaborators in other countries to check that it did not contain culturally specific questions. We invited those collaborators to include other questions or to make substitutions if they wished for a very few questions. We, however, asked the collaborators not to change the agreed core set of questions since these would form the basis for all comparisons. Where English was not the principal national language or the questionnaire needed to be administered in another language, we asked our

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collaborators to arrange to have the questionnaire translated by one translator and then translated back into English by another and then checked. By this means any problems with language and translation might be minimised. We set down the approach to be taken with the focus group discussions, and the overall questions that we wished the focus groups to explore with all the participating researchers. All these procedures were set out in a Country Coordinators Manual Various forms of statistical analysis were carried out. Pearson’s chi-square tests were used to assess statistically significant differences between countries. Gender relationships were also tested for differences in responses between male and female students. Following these tests of independence, pair-wise tests were carried out between countries for each of the data sets. Secondly, plots were prepared of scores for four sets of questions: environmental beliefs; knowledge; desire to improve the environment; and actual behaviour to assess the relationships between these four elements. Finally, cluster analyses were carried out of technological beliefs environmental beliefs, and types and frequencies of reported behaviour. (Yencken et al 2000, pp. 45-50,190-191). This is a brief summary only. Those interested in the full discussion of these matters are referred to Environment, Education and Society in the Asia Pacific.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK While Environment, Education and Society in the Asia Pacific reported comparisons between the various countries participating in the research, this book concentrates on the individual findings from the specific research in nine countries: Australia, Brunei, South China, Fiji, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and USA. Each of the main chapters in the book reviews aspects of the cultural background studies and reports the finding of the research in that country. The chapters begin with a brief description of the land and landscape, a discussion of development and the environment and media treatment and governmental responses, and a review of environmental education in the country concerned. From the surveys and focus group studies with young people there is reporting and discussion of: National priorities The most important environmental issues (nationally and globally) Familiarity with environmental concepts Knowledge of environmental concepts Sources of environmental information Perceived reliability of environmental education Environmental beliefs Environmental actions and influences on those actions The impacts of education on environmental attitudes and behaviour. In the final chapter, there is an analysis of these country reports across the countries and regions, together with an outline of what the results indicate about future education, growth and environmental policy.

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We hope that the research related to the individual countries reported in this book will provide information for researchers, environmental policy makers and educationalists in each of the countries involved in the research, and, indeed, in all countries in the Asia Pacific region. Not only do they have the opportunity to study responses related to young people and their education in their own countries, they can also examine and compare responses in adjoining or related countries and across the region. We do not presume to advise those who have responsibility for education nor those who are directly involved in teaching related to the environment how they should respond to these findings since individual cultures and educational systems vary greatly. Instead we have chosen to pose a number of questions for those with these educational and environmental responsibilities. These questions are set out at the conclusion of the final chapter. We hope that they will provoke many thoughtful and imaginative responses. Finally we hope that this book, read in conjunction with its sister publication Environment, Education and Society in the Asia Pacific, will provide a useful resource for all those who are interested in the future health, prosperity and sustainability of the region. REFERENCES Asian Development Bank (1997). Emerging Asia: Changes and challenges, Manila: Asian Development Bank. Kempton, W., Boster, J.S. and Hartley, J.A. (1996). Environmental values in American culture, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. Pedersen, P. (1995). Nature, religion and cultural identity: The religious environmentalist paradigm in O. Bruun and A, Kalland (eds), Asian perceptions of nature: A critical approach. Richmond: Curzon. UNESCO-PROAP (1996). Celebrating diversity, cultivating development, creating our future together: UNESCO in Asia and the Pacific. Bangkok: UNESCO. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (1995). State of the environment in Asia and the Pacific. Bangkok: UNESCAP. United Nations Environment Programme (1997). Global environmental outlook, New York. Oxford University Press. United Nations Environment Programme (1999). Global environmental outlook 2000. London: UNEP and Earthscan. World Bank (1993). Towards an environmental strategy for Asia, World Bank Discussion Paper No. 224. Washington. Yencken, D., Fien, J. and Sykes, H. (eds) (2000). Environment, education and society in the Asia Pacific: Local traditions and global discourses. London: Routledge.

BRENDAN BARRETT, OSAMU ABE, EIICHIRO HARAKO AND SATOSHI ISHIKAWA

2 JAPAN

The Japanese environment is so riddled with industrial effluent and agricultural chemicals that in 1973 the entire populace panicked before the threat of a nationwide epidemic of ‘pollution diseases’, incurable human disorders resulting from exposure to intense environmental pollution. (Huddle and Reich, 1975, p. 22) In the 1980s, Japan boasted 80 to 90 percent of the world's ‘smoke scrubbing’ facilities for cleaning sulfur dioxide, one of the worst air pollutants, from smokestack gases ... Japan reduced pollution in other ways: increased efficiency in energy use, moving noisy factories out of Tokyo and recycling programs. In view of what had gone before, this turnabout was as miraculous as Japan’s economic growth achievements.(Broadbent, 1998, p. 15)

The Japanese archipelago has been inhabited for over 13,000 years and for this entire period the people have coexisted with a remarkably rich flora and fauna. The early Japanese chose as their home a mountainous country composed of nearly 4,000 islands extending 3,000 kilometres from north to south. Located close to the intersection of three tectonic plates, Japan has been subjected to seismic and volcanic activity throughout its history. Nevertheless, this somewhat inhospitable island chain has maintained an extremely large population for centuries and is now one of the most densely populated countries in the world, supporting a population of 126 million in 1999. Japan began the transformation to a predominantly urban society from the late 1860s onwards and now has around 80% of the population living in the major cities and towns. Japanese people are well educated and affluent with the large majority (up to 90 percent) describing themselves as middle class. Adult literacy is near 100 percent and educational attainment is on the increase with currently approximately 48 percent of all students per annum advancing to higher education. Quality of life for most Japanese is relatively good and life expectancies are high (77 years for males and 84 for females). It is generally argued that the Japanese are a homogenous race with existing literature referring to the fact that ethnic groups represent only 1 percent of the total population (although 3 percent may be a more realistic figure). 9 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Syke (eds), 9-22. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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INFLUENCES ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT

Japanese Philosophies of Development and the Environment

From 1868 onwards, the West heavily influenced the cultural development of Japan. However, as one of the few Asian countries to avoid colonisation, the Japanese were able to successfully control the influx of ideas, philosophy, science and technology. As a result, these external influences were carefully melded with existing Japanese philosophical and cultural frameworks. While the Judeo-Christian tradition made some inroads, Shintoism and Buddhism remained by far the most powerful forces shaping the Japanese view of the world. The popular perception that the Japanese have a special relationship with nature perhaps even derives from their Shintoistic beliefs and the view that gods inhabit the rivers, trees and mountains. In addition, Buddhism adds an important dimension to the man-nature relationship, claiming that divinity resides in the fabric of the natural universe. Japanese attitudes to nature have tended to be an enigma to non-Japanese observers. Traditional Japanese art, philosophy, literature and religious belief suggest a sensitive kinship with the natural world. Leading philosophers such as Watsuji Tetsuro explain what they claim to be the ‘uniqueness’ of Japanese people and culture in terms of a particular set of environmental influences or fudo (climate) which lie at the heart of nihonjinron – the philosophy of being Japanese. Undeniably, the most fundamental changes in the people-environment relationships in Japan were a result of the successive industrial revolutions from the late 19th century onward. However, it was not until 1964-65 that national consciousness of wider environmental problems came to the fore following the dramatic post-war economic expansion. A number of major pollution incidents occurred at this time, including mercury poisoning at Minamata and the reaction from government and industry was slow. Shaped by this bitter experience, a substantial body of Japanese environmental thought emerged in the mid-1970s. At this time, Japan developed one of the most complete statutory frameworks for environmental policy in the world. Citizen groups were very active and in many areas local government led the way with the development of innovative policies. Unfortunately, this momentum was not maintained in the 1980s, when environmentalism took a serious backward step in Japan as people enjoyed the extravagancy of the ‘bubble economy’. It was only in the early 1990s that the Japanese began to reassess the situation as it became clearer that global concerns over sustainability and what constitutes a healthy environment would require the development of more environmentally benign lifestyles in industrialised countries like Japan.

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Media Treatment of the Environment

With some of the highest newspaper circulation rates in the world, the media in Japan have played a decisive yet inconsistent role in the coverage of environmental issues. Initially, regional branches of national newspapers were left to deal with the pollution issues and their head offices in Tokyo concluded that such news did not merit national attention. However, the situation gradually changed with the average space devoted to environmental issues in newspapers growing from 0.4 percent in 1960 to 2.8 percent in 1972. News coverage on television quadrupled between 1960 and 1970. Global environmental issues are also receiving increased attention from the media. The Asahi newspaper, for example, had only one article on the global environment in the whole of 1985, but this coverage gradually increased to peak at 1218 articles in 1992. The number of articles dropped to 402 by 1996. Despite this exposure, there are some commentators who claim that the media in Japan is still far too complacent about environmental issues and generally tends to avoid criticising the public administration, the governing parties and potential private sector sponsors. State of the Environment

Japan has a comprehensive and effective environmental monitoring system and has been reporting on environmental issues since the 1970s. Some of the most serious environmental problems in Japan at the moment include: Control of nitrogen dioxide and suspended particulate matter levels from automobiles in urban areas is proving very difficult and there are increasing concerns about the potential for young children and the elderly to fall victim to this pollution. Absolute emissions from Japan are high (5.1 percent of the world’s total emissions) Trans-boundary pollution from neighbouring countries is a growing concern with acid rain levels now similar to those found in Europe. Control of organic pollutants has proven more difficult with eutrophication occurring in inland water areas and bays around Japan. Dioxin emissions from inadequate incinerator facilities (around 30 percent of existing plants are sub-standard in terms of performance) are causing major problems in some localities. There is growing public concern about the potential impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals (environmental hormones). The most recent version of the Red Data Book shows that 7 percent of mammals, 8 percent of birds, 22 percent of amphibians and 11 percent of freshwater fish are threatened with extinction.

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Environmental Education The Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture or Monbuso schools and the Environment Agency (non-formal environmental education) share responsibilities for environmental education. Traditionally, environmental education in Japan was not recognised as a discrete element in the national curricula but was covered under other subjects such as social studies, science, health and physical education. It was only following Japan’s tragic pollution experience during the 1960s that new courses began to be introduced at all levels of schooling on ‘pollution and health’ in 1969, on ‘environmental protection and pollution prevention’ in 1977 and finally on ‘mankind and the environment’ in 1978. Over this period, the overall proportion of environmental education course content gradually increased although still within the framework of existing subjects. It was not until 1989, however, that a more radical revision of the curricula took place with the introduction of ‘Life Environment Studies’ as a new subject at elementary schools. Environmental education came to focus on fostering the abilities of students to solve environmental problems and to promote attitudes appropriate to responding positively to social change. Related to this was the increased emphasis placed on experience-based learning. Monbusho has supported these activities with the publication of environmental education handbooks and guidelines that call for the development of citizens who are aware of, and knowledgeable about the environment and its problems. The Ministry has taken the lead in promoting the spread of environmental education within schools through a number of measures that include the designation of model schools which participate in environmental education programmes sponsored by Monbusho, environmental education fairs and additional teacher training activities. The prefectural and municipal governments are responsible for the implementation of these measures and guidelines. Environmental education has great potential to enhance the range of teaching methods used in Japan. Japanese education has traditionally emphasised the structured, systematic presentation of knowledge and rigid examinations. Using environmental education as a driving factor, new methods of instruction are being introduced which focus on individualised small groups and team teaching, hands-on learning and problem solving. This includes experimentation with role-playing, simulations, debates, decision-making exercises and values clarification exercises. Moreover, in 2002, Monbusho introduced a new system to all public schools in Japan that will reduce class hours, increase the number of elective courses and establish periods for integrated study. It is anticipated that these changes will create the conditions for greater experimentation with teaching and learning styles, with environmental education continuing to play a critical role. THE JAPANESE STUDY

The questionnaire survey was undertaken in 1996 in eight high schools in Tokyo. The total number of students surveyed was 1161 (all 15 and 16 years old). A smaller

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number of 21 students from three schools participated in focus group sessions in 1997. Level of Concern about Personal, Social and Environmental Issues The students interviewed in Tokyo expressed their fears and hopes for the future, ranging from the very personal (next week’s exam, getting through high school, getting a job), to those for the community (too much garbage) and the globe (extinction of species, depletion of resources) as well as natural and human disasters (earthquakes and nuclear accidents). These views are consistent with the findings of the questionnaire survey, which addressed the most important goals for Japan. In response to the questionnaire, the majority of students (40%) indicated that they would like to see environmental protection as the first goal of Japan. This was followed by the prevention of war and nuclear threats (22%). The third most important goal was the creation of a fairer and more humane society (20%). There was then a big gap, with only 5 percent wanting to see more liveable cities and another 3 percent hoping for less unemployment. Similar surveys of adults undertaken by the Prime Minister’s office generally indicate that the current poor economic situation and the state of national public finances are the two main areas of concern. These are followed by fears for the natural environment and dissatisfaction with existing working conditions. Regarding the issues currently facing Japan, the majority of students considered that ‘household rubbish and garbage’ represents the most important national issue. At the global level, they were most concerned about the ‘destruction of the ozone layer’ (Table 2.1). The reasons why students consider the ozone layer to be the major problem is somewhat intriguing since this is widely believed to be one of the global environmental problems that has been most effectively dealt with by the international community. Moreover, the emphasis on waste in Japan may in part reflect what can be described as the emergence of the contemporary recycling society in contrast to the traditional preoccupation with pollution control. The focus groups also expressed concern about the problem of waste with one participant stating: I worry about the problem of waste. I am concerned that we will all build our houses on waste in the future. In a small, densely populated island like Japan, land is in short supply for waste disposal and the two disposal options are incineration (with the related dioxin problem) and coastal land reclamation. Both have proven very controversial in recent years. Other students expressed concern over development taking place near their homes. One student described the situation thus: I like the environment around my residential area but the number of houses has been increasing for a few years. New roads are constructed and I feel that traffic is becoming a problem in my area.

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Air pollution was also a concern for the survey respondents and the focus groups. One participant in the focus groups described his experience with asthma as a child and explained how it was caused by air pollution from traffic.

Environmental Awareness and Knowledge

The focus group participants presented a surprisingly rich definition of the environment, broader by far than any commonly found in textbooks dealing with environmental issues. They recognised that the environment encompasses their entire surroundings, including social and natural perspectives (references were made to the ‘family environment’ and the ‘natural environment’). They clearly indicated that their understanding of the term ‘environment’ was broader than that of the media, which tends to focus on air and water pollution. With respect to ten key environmental issues, the survey respondents were very familiar with terms such as ‘ozone layer’, ‘ecology’ and ‘the greenhouse effect’. They were less familiar with such terms as ‘precautionary principle’, ‘renewable resources’ and ‘intergenerational equity’ (Table 2.2).

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As indicated in Table 2.3, it is important to be very careful not to confuse familiarity of a term with actual understanding of its meaning. The term ‘ecology’ is a good example of this knowledge gap, with a large number of students (21%) answering that they thought it was best described as the relationship between humans and the environment, or as the recycling of products (again 21%). Interestingly, although few students had heard of the concept of ‘intergenerational equity’, just over 50 percent were able to properly define it. At the same time, ‘sustainable development’ (of which intergenerational equity forms a key element) was relatively unknown and comparatively poorly understood. This may in part be explained by the variety of similar terms in government reports and academic studies in Japan, that may confuse even the experts in the field, including sustainability, sustainable development, sustainable society, sustainable economy and so on.

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One concern here is that the education system in Japan may be promoting the memorisation of environmental terms rather than understanding of those terms. This is particularly worrisome in the context of environmental awareness, since proper understanding of a problem is a prerequisite for finding a solution to that problem. On the causes of environmental problems, the focus group participants exhibited deep understanding and concern based on their own personal experiences. They clearly explained that environmental problems are social constructions linked to human value systems and behaviour patterns. The students talked about human nature as the cause and pointed to problems of selfishness, desire for convenience, lack of awareness and foresight. They were particularly concerned about the way in which modern society utilises science for its own benefit but fails to deal with the risk involved. Moreover, they expressed concern over their own lack of agency and considered that solving environmental problems required action by politicians. There was also a sense of resignation, as one student pointed out: I think that it is a common desire based on human psychology to want to have convenience, to want to be rich, and so on. If we try to find the causes of environmental problems it means looking closely at human desire. I don’t think we can improve this.

While acknowledging that it may be difficult to change human nature, perhaps enhanced awareness of environmental issues may help to curb some of its excesses. In this context, the main source of environmental information for the survey respondents was television, followed by newspapers and school. Family and nongovernment organisations (NGOs) played a lesser, but important role (Table 2.4). The focus group sessions also supported this with the participants mentioning that they learn a lot about the environment from television, newspapers and through school lessons and assignments. Others mentioned the importance of their own personal experiences in shaping their awareness of environmental problems:

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In my childhood there used to be bushes near my house and I played there. I used to catch fireflies there. Now, those areas are gone and houses have been built where I used to play. I feel really sad about the way this has happened.

Some of the students, but not all, in the focus groups had a healthy scepticism about the information they obtained from various sources. For instance, some students mentioned that they do not completely trust the television and newspapers. Others felt that the media focuses on what it thinks will interest people rather than the facts. These views are supported by the findings from the survey that showed that the respondents had little confidence in most information sources. Environmental NGOs were seen as the most reliable source of information - but even then only by 29 percent of respondents. (Table 4).

Environmental Beliefs

Table 2.5 shows that the vast majority of respondents are supportive of the environmental paradigm. Surprisingly, for an advanced technological society like Japan, only 15 percent of students’ beliefs were consistent with the technological paradigm. The overwhelming majority supported the environmental paradigm. It appears that young Japanese people are concerned about the environmental effects of economic growth and see the need to balance the maintenance of a healthy environment with sustaining a prosperous economy. This is made clear in Table 2.6 which shows that 83% of respondents agreed with these sentiments while 43 percent believed that it is possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment.

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The participants in the focus groups were also closely aligned to the environmental paradigm and somewhat concerned about the interrelationships between society, science, technology and the environment. One participant summed up such feelings very well: I don’t think we can do anything to protect the environment. Because even though there are now many people who are concerned about the environment and try to do something, still we haven’t seen any changes in society at large. What I mean is, I think the current government doesn’t focus on environmental issues. I think the government can’t organise the ideas needed to protect the environment and doesn’t have the power. We see new developments in science, but the more we find answers to problems, the more we also create new problems, like a dog chasing its tail.

There was a sense of frustration expressed by some of the participants and concern that even if they tried to do something no one would take them seriously or listen to them. Environmental Actions

The respondents to the survey were fairly pragmatic regarding their views on how best to bring about significant improvements in the quality of the environment

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beginning with immediate changes they could achieve themselves, changes at the community level and then changes nationally. A large number (63%) felt that personal lifestyle changes were required and 62 per cent considered that communities need to work together. 58 per cent wanted to see more government legislation, and 51 per cent were of the view that a radical restructuring of society is required. Just over 80 per cent of the students indicated that they had a ‘very strong’ or ‘strong’ desire to improve the environment and nearly half considered that they had the knowledge and skills to bring about such improvements. Nearly 62 per cent of the respondents indicated that they had been involved in recycling activities over the past 12 months and just under half were trying to reduce water consumption for environmental reasons. Choosing household products that are better for the environment was also a popular activity. However, fewer students had tried to encourage others to change actions that were bad for the environment (15%), or taken part in clean-up or anti-litter campaigns (14%), or donated to an environmental group (10%). These results seem to indicate an unwillingness on the part of respondents to get involved in activities that require participation in group or individual efforts outside the home including supporting environmental groups, joining tree planting or litter campaigns or writing/complaining about environmental issues. This could represent the lack of a general sense of agency on the part of the students or an even more serious problem in that there are few opportunities (campaigns organised by local government or meetings organised by environmental groups) for the students to actively participate in. It might also reflect the fact that the students are overoccupied with their studies and club activities with limited time available for voluntary environmental activities. Only 35 per cent of the respondents indicated that they had taken deliberate action to improve the environment. The reasons for the majority of students not taking action are as follows: There is no practical alternative (59%); It won’t make much difference (59%); Don’t understand what is harmful and what is not (50%); and Don’t have the time (48%). The students in the focus groups expressed mixed feelings about their ability to take action to improve the environment now and in the future. They mentioned that talking about protecting the environment is easy but doing something is more difficult, with several indicating how troublesome it can be and how easy it is to forget. Some thought that they might be able to get into positions that may allow them to be more influential in the future, and being able to vote was seen as important by many respondents. However, there was a general cynicism about the current political system with comments about politicians being untrustworthy or ‘professional liars’. Respondents felt that politicians do not keep their promises and that there is nothing the people can do about it. Moreover, they observed that people seem to be becoming less interested in politics with voter turnout continuing to fall. One student made an odd remark. He felt that speaking out on environmental issues

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as a cabinet member would result in that Minister being assassinated – an extreme but somewhat illuminating perspective on Japanese politics. Many students were more optimistic and appeared to see other problems with the current decisionmakers: The people who lived during the period of economic growth are now the decisionmakers and have power at present. So I think they have a lack of awareness of the environment.

This implies that when the younger generations come into power things will be run differently. Another participant put it slightly differently: I don’t expect that given the established order of power that I will be able to get into a position of influence. I suppose I could do something for the environment if I become a decision-maker in the future. But if I remain an ordinary citizen, then the decisionmakers will ignore not only one opinion but also group responses.

Education

A mere 3 per cent of the respondents to the survey indicated that they regularly talked about environmental issues outside of school with another 13 per cent having such discussions almost once a month. Most students (44%) indicated that they only talked about the environment outside of school several times a year and a large proportion (17%) never discussed it at all. Some students (58% and 33% respectively) indicated that they discussed the greenhouse effect and the ozone layer. However, other concepts such as the precautionary principle and intergenerational equity were virtually unheard of. In the focus groups, it appears that school was an important source of information on the environment. The participants mentioned that they learned a great deal about the environment from classes (in particular science and geography) as well as videos, textbooks and work assignments. Nevertheless, the survey results also indicated that students would like to see more attention given to environmental studies in school. A large proportion of students indicated that they would like to discuss environmental issues at least once a month (20%) or several times a year (56%). As Table 2.7 shows, an intriguingly large proportion of students (17%) would be happy if environmental issues were never discussed in school. This is higher than any other nation surveyed and difficult to understand, unless it has something to do with their general attitude towards high school (they are too busy, have too much to cram and no time to think).

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CONCLUSION

This study suggests that environmentalism in Japan may be shifting away from a narrow concern with pollution and nature study to reflect the broader beliefs and values of the New Environmental Paradigm. The evidence from the survey of young people in Japan shows that expectations about the future quality of the environment are mixed with some feeling that better environmental conservation requires changes in lifestyles, values and human behaviour. All of these are difficult to attain. Nevertheless, the youth of Japan is becoming increasingly familiar with concepts commonly used in the international community such as global warming or the ozone layer. They also appear to be very supportive of the environmental paradigm, ranking environmental protection above economic growth. They indicate a desire to take personal action in order to protect/improve the environment and are confident about their capabilities to take action, although this seems restricted to recycling activities at present. However, for a number of complex reasons the respondents appear unable to move from understanding to action. This may relate to a lack of efficacy on their part, or from their perception that society tends to frown on participation. The challenge, as found in other countries examined in this book, is to create the conditions in which the energy and enthusiasm of the youth of Japan can be harnessed to ensure environmental protection and responsible, proactive citizenship. REFERENCES Asquith, P.J. and Kalland, A. (1997). Japanese images of nature: Cultural perspectives. Richmond: Curzon. Barrett, B. and Therivel, R. (1991). Environmental policy and impact assessment in Japan. London: Routledge. Broadbent, J. (1998). Environmental politics in Japan: Networks of power and protest. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Environment Agency (1998). Quality of the environment in Japan 1999. Tokyo: Government of Japan. Huddle, N. and Reich, M. (1975). Island of dreams: Environmental crisis in Japan. New York: Autumn Press. Low, M., Nakayama, S. and Yoshioka, H. (1999). Science, technology and society in contemporary Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Peng-Er, L. (1999). Green politics in Japan, London: Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies Series. Totman, C. (1989). The green archipelago: Forestry in pre-industrial Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press. Tsuru, S. (1999). The political economy of the environment: The case of Japan. London: The AthlonePress.

CHENG GE, PHILIP STIMPSON AND WANG BING KWAN

3 CHINA - GUANGZHOU

Environment and development are two major concerns.... Through its arduous efforts of many years, especially those made since the Industrial Revolution, mankind has made brilliant achievements in transforming nature and developing economy. Yet neglect of environment in the course of industrialisation, particularly the irrational exploitation and utilisation of resources, has caused global environmental pollution and ecological degradation posing a real threat to the survival and development of mankind. (Li Peng, 1994, p.1)

The chapter reports findings from the Guangzhou survey in the People's Republic of China. China is highly diverse and the situation in Guangzhou is viewed as a case study drawn from the more affluent eastern and south eastern coastal region of China, which is undergoing rapid economic development. Guangzhou is probably the most important city in the southern part of Mainland China and is the capital of Guangdong Province. This city of over 6 million people is located at the northernmost end of an industrial axis which runs down the Zhu Jiang Kou (Pearl River Delta) to the Hong Kong SAR. Over the last decade, following Deng Xiao Ping’s ‘Open Door’ industrialisation policy of 1978, this region has become the site of frenetic industrial development with growth rates in GDP well above the national average. Its economy has boomed but, as with other industrial areas in China, this has not been without serious environmental degradation. Guangzhou exemplifies many of China’s environmental problems which are mainly those of environmental pollution and ecological destruction. The Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) in Guangzhou is active in monitoring the state of the environment although, while producing annual statistics, no comprehensive report exists, as say in Australia. Despite continuing expenditure on environmental schemes, Guangzhou suffers from a number of environmental problems. The waters of rivers draining into Zhu Jiang Kou are highly polluted with agricultural and industrial wastes and water pollution is the most serious problem faced. Industrialisation has led to a problem in disposing of toxic wastes from the textiles, plastics and electronics industries. Output of solid waste in general is doubling every decade. 23 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes, 23—37. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Despite control measures over the last two decades, land clearance has led to increased rates of run-off that has resulted in silting and flooding. Urban expansion has led to habitat loss and reduced biodiversity. Air pollution from the industrial use of sulphurous fuels and nitrous oxides from vehicles has contributed to acid rain. In the early 1990s, the average rain pH value was reported as 3.67. Air-born particulate matter from the incomplete combustion of fuels and from construction, have led to health hazards as particulates have trebled during the 1990s. The continued use of CFCs contribute to ozone depletion. Increased demand for food has led to increased risk from chemical fertilisers and pesticides in the countryside around the city. There are water shortage in times of low rainfall and, despite efforts in treatment and protection, water quality concerns as a result of pollution. (Edmonds, 1996, based on data from the Statistical Yearbook of Guangdong and other local sources) Incomes in Guangzhou exceed these in some nearby impoverished rural districts by a factor of ten or more. With low incomes and unemployment in central and western China, there has been a drift to the cities in the East such as Guangzhou aggravating existing urban environmental problems. The link between the ability to generate acceptable incomes and the development of a sustainable environment, i.e. sustainable living, in China is clear but brings the dilemma between development and the environment to the forefront. The need for environmental protection and environmental protection education is well understood and, for example, Guangdong has been spending nearly 15 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion) in the late 1990s to combat pollution (SCMP, 1996). The need for environmental education is accepted if the environmental plans are to be successfully implemented. The effectiveness of environmental education in turn, however, requires understanding of the present patterns of environmental knowledge and beliefs. Before describing the survey results, the first half of the chapter sets out the cultural and economic context in which the young people’s beliefs and understanding regarding the environment have developed. INFLUENCES ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT Cultural Context

Confucian cultural perspectives are at the heart of traditional beliefs in China. Traditional perspectives have not been officially encouraged since 1949, but these beliefs remain deep in the psyche of Han people. They are a part of their roots. These beliefs have been reviewed in other reports involving Chinese people (see the report, for example, for Hong Kong) and therefore are only summarised here. Three points can perhaps be made. First, Chinese culture is a culture of the ‘heart’ rather than the ‘mind’ (Hsu, 1975). It is moral rather than a psychological issue. Second, Confucianism puts the person at the centre and is seen as humanistic in character

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(Moore, 1967). Third, unlike many other cultures, China has no creation myth (Mote, 1989), the Chinese believing that the cosmos was spontaneously selfgenerating. This underpins an anthropocentric view of life and the person’s surroundings. Protection of the environment is hence a priority if it fits with the needs of the individual but, on the same argument, so too is an acceptance of environmental degradation. Generalising about Chinese culture, however, is very difficult, not the least because of the ethnic diversity in the PRC and the intermixing of peoples in industrial honey-pots such as Guangzhou. Whilst the stereotype is the Han Chinese culture of Eastern and Central China, the country incorporates a number of what are termed ethnic minorities. Some, such as the Tibetan people, who are dominantly Buddhist, and the Moslem people of Xinjiang in the far-west, have distinct and separate cultures. Even amongst Han people differences in attitudes appear, for example, between northerners and southerners and between the peoples of the Mainland and Taiwan. As a pertinent illustration, Bond (1991) notes that most people who claim a Chinese cultural base tend to espouse conservative values rather than change values such as independence and novelty; however, the exception is people from Guangzhou who fall in the change half of the spectrum. If traditional social perspectives lead to an ambivalence in views about the environment, then the more so do recent changes. Hofstede (1980), on the one hand, argues collectivism is more dominant than individualism in Chinese society, the paramount concern being for the integrity and advancement of the group and the common good of the community. Yang (1988), however, notes that many Chinese in Taiwan today put value on individualism, a perspective that looks to the future and which accepts mastery over nature. These people prefer a life combining action and enjoyment; meditation and submission to external forces are rejected. In the context of Guangzhou, it is apposite that many of the economic characteristics are tending in a similar direction to that in Taiwan leading arguably to similar attitudinal outcomes. Thus, whilst in the PRC socialist ideology espouses collective perspectives in which the individual works for the betterment of the state, social and economic forces often lead to individualism and environmental disregard if it is not consistent with the drive towards self-improvement. What we see in Guangzhou in particular, as generally in much of China, is a three-way tension between traditional, socialist and contemporary norms. This is not to deny areas of complementarity and symbiosis. Many of the traditional social norms, for example collectivism and acceptance of authority, are consistent with the norms of the socialist state as is the individualism that generates economic wealth in the service of the country. Further, people who are more individualistic and materialistic would not see them selves as rejecting traditional values but reinterpreting them in the context of China in the 21st century. Yet, at the same time, there are conflicts which come from unbridled development that create a new balance in which environmental stewardship is a risk.

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The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

The Chinese Communist Party is the pre-eminent force behind many aspects of Chinese life including attitudes towards the environment. With control of the media, TV and newspapers carry the CCP’s message; education is similarly viewed as a tool of the Party, propaganda not having the same negative connotation as in Western societies. As Lam (1993) noted, values education of which environmental education is a part is seen by the State Education Commission in political terms to combat ‘undesirable’ bourgeoisie influences from the West and to emphasise socialist principles. Once environmental protection became a central plank in Party thinking in the 1970s, the Party sought to put its full force behind promulgating its ideas by all means available to Government. To influence people’s attitudes to the environment, it has engaged in billboard, TV and newspaper campaigns as well as looking to modify the school curriculum. In the absence, until very recently, of local NGOs and with international NGOs being looked on with some wariness, the influence of the Communist Party at both Regional and National levels is probably the most potent force at work. Loyalty to the Party is crucial and taking up directions given by party leaders, however brief (Wong, 1994), is a means of demonstrating loyalty. Environmental Policy and the Influence of Government

Environmental policy cannot be looked at separately from development policy in China: To satisfy the needs of a growing population, the Chinese Government attaches great importance to improving people’s food, clothing and housing conditions, to enriching entertainment, physical education, health care as well as the development of tertiary industries in order to provide people with full and convenient services. As the national economy rapidly develops, these demands will become more urgent. (State Planning Committee, 1994, p. 49).

Supplying the needs of the people is the major concern both in terms of basic needs for the poor and fulfilling the rising expectations of the rich. The potential risks to the environment and the need for sustainable consumption patterns are recognised. Nonetheless, the tension between environment protection and development is ever present. In the context of China in the 21st century, the balance has shifted towards development with environmental protection as a facilitating device, mitigating the worse effects of environmental degradation. This dilemma is especially apparent in the Guangzhou area where incomes are some of the highest in the country and forces of consumerism are rife but also where environmental risk and the need for protection are among the greatest. Contemporary plans for environmental protection in China date from draft legislation in 1973 which was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in 1979. Environmental issues received increasing official recognition in the early 1980s with environmental protection adopted as national policy in 1983 (Cai, 1991). This led to the formation of the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) in 1984. This was followed by the development of a

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range of environmental policies and laws which culminated in the 1989 Environmental Law of the PRC (Bradbury and Kirkby, 1996). In line with this, Guangzhou has its own environmental bureau and a research base in its tertiary education institutions. Compared with other Provinces, management of the environment appears to have been relatively good in Guangdong's urban areas. Guangzhou, which established its environmental protection organisation in 1973, is proud that it has been able to maintain more or less steady levels of pollution as it experienced considerable economic growth in the 1990s. (Edmonds, 1996, p.95). The problem is not one of legislation but the degree to which laws are enforceable at the local level (SCMP, 2000). Solely technocratic protection policies of the 1980s have been supplemented by the adoption of a ‘polluter pay’ principle but the perspective largely still concentrates on problem solving rather than prevention. The rapid economic development in recent years has led to such a serious reduction in environmental quality in many areas that engineering solutions are essential to stem the tide. Environmental Education

Environmental education cannot be understood outside of the context of education in general within the PRC. Education is highly centralised (Leung, 1991) with, to a large extent, the aim of facilitating economic development within a socialist Chinese culture. Syllabi and supporting texts are national with regional adaptions and Guangzhou as a part of Guangdong has its own variant. As elsewhere in China, there are six years of primary education followed by three of junior high school (Middle School) and, for the more able, three years of senior high school. There is, however, considerable variation in provision and resourcing both between the urban and rural areas and within a city, like Guangzhou where there are substantial differences between the few elite Key Point schools and other schools. Teaching styles are generally formal with a focus on exposition and testing. The textbooks, which in the secondary sector tend to be discipline oriented in their treatment, are usually followed closely. Curricula are academic-rationalist and instrumentalist rather than interpretive or socially critical. The curricular and resource limitations are, however, recognised and reforms are in-place which are likely to make most headway in cities such as Guangzhou. Environmental education is viewed as a minor element within the context of values education as a whole, the emphasis of which is strongly weighted towards the current state of the country and promoting national pride (Lam, 1993). Environmental education is best developed in primary rather than in secondary schools where it is mainly taught through geography and nature study (Jiang, 1994). In high schools, environmental education is primarily through science subjects and geography. Schools broadly follow a national environmental education curriculum promulgated by the State Education Commission in 1992. It was drawn up by the State Planning Commission and the State Science and Technology Commission and has a focus on environmental science and environmental protection. To facilitate

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local development, an Environmental Education Professional Teachers’ Committee was set up in 1988, comprising secondary school teachers, lawyers, cadres and Environmental Protection Bureau officials, under the guidance and support of the Bureau. This group produced a recommended environmental education curriculum for Guangzhou and the rest of the Province that emphasised central environmental protection policies in the context of the local physical and economic conditions. The document, which was disseminated by the Guangzhou Environmental Protection Propaganda and Education Centre (GEPPEC) in 1990, set out broad directions for environmental education in the city's schools. The aims for environmental education are to promote: Environmental protection as a national policy; The perspective that the environment is apart of the resources of China; The understanding that the environment implies certain values; Awareness that environmental protection is a form of social ethics; and The knowledge that environmental protection is controlled by legislation. The objectives were organised in three levels with Levels I (raising environmental consciousness) and II (raising environmental awareness) specifically for primary and secondary schools. (Level III - improving environmental skills- was directed at community education). The aim was to integrate science and sentiment as a means of developing love and respect for nature and the environment. The desire is that young people will come to accept that environmental protection is something that involves everyone and that some personal sacrifice is needed for the common good of society. There is the goal that theory and knowledge about the environment should be integrated with conservation practices in and for the environment. Implementation in Guangzhou schools is claimed to be most effectively achieved in Guangdong of all Chinese provinces (Kwan and Lidstone, 1997). While crosscurricular permeation was intended, in practice most of the effort comes from biology and geography. In addition, there are: (i) informal, extra-curricular activities which emphasis the application of environmental understanding through industrial visits and school greening programmes, and (ii) community propaganda activities in which education, cultural entertainment - for example dance - and propaganda are blended together. The general approach tends to be formal, expository and inculcatory. Teachers accept that things are controlled by the political ideology and that the free selection of values is not allowed. Whilst teachers recognise that pupils do not like the direct teaching of values (Lam, 1993), experiential approaches are largely unknown in class. Observations suggest that as long as school policies do not contravene the broad guidelines/instructions from the EEPC, local government takes a very flexible stance (Wong, 1995). There is much local interpretation and adaption in Guangzhou schools of what is suggested by central government. Hence there is often a discrepancy between what is planned and what is being carried out in schools particularly in matters of emphasis. Pressure from the examinations is often claimed to leave little time for environmental education. As a result, many teachers tend to participate in environmental education activities only when central agencies make an issue of it, Lam (1993) argued, to pacify the authorities. The ‘practicality’ ethic is very strong

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among teachers and their perspective on schooling tends to be narrow. On the more positive side, Lam noted that younger teachers were more open to less conservative teaching strategies and the future may be less bleak. Teachers often lack professional understanding and know little about ways of developing environmental values apart from direct inculcation. For this reason, the Teachers’ College in Guangzhou was recently established as a regional environmental education centre to provide resources especially for environmental education in Guangdong. THE GUANGZHOU STUDY

The survey research in Guangzhou involved a total of 1,004 students and was derived from seven secondary schools containing pupils from the upper one third of the ability range. All the schools were urban schools and were surveyed in 1996. The students, 47 per cent girls and 53 per cent boys, were aged between 14 and 18 years with being aged 16 to 17. Most (64%) took science subjects while about a fifth were from the humanities stream. Levels of Concern about Personal, Social and Environmental Issues

The concerns of young people in Guangzhou can be gauged from their priorities concerning goals for the city and its region. At the top of their list was the issue of population growth followed some way behind by ‘strengthening the economy’ and ‘protecting the environment’ (Table 3.1). Population is a major issue and emphasised in government information. 'Building strong defense forces', 'protecting freedom of speech' 'reducing unemployment', making cities more livable', 'overcoming poverty' and 'preventing war' were low in the students priorities. The students' goals perhaps reflect a concern with the present rather than the future and with themselves as potentially a part of the elite rather than with the community in general.

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Many of their highly rated priorities for Guangzhou were repeated in their priorities for the world (Table 3.2). Population, deforestation and pollution were important in both lists. The most noticeable difference was the greater importance given to the question of the destruction of the ozone layer as a world rather than a local issue. In both, the greenhouse effect was relatively low in their thinking about what should be addressed. The impact of governmental messages on priorities seems strong, a point that will be returned to in a later section.

Environmental Awareness and Knowledge The young people were most aware of three concepts in particular, namely the ideas of ‘renewable resources’, ‘the greenhouse effect’ and ‘the ozone layer’ (Table 3.3). They were least familiar with the ideas of ‘the carbon cycle’, ‘intergenerational equity’, and ‘the precautionary principle’, all which had not been heard of by a third or more of the students.

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The students understanding of environmental concepts was varied (Table 3.4). The young people could recognise correct explanations for ‘carrying capacity’, ‘intergenerational equity’, ‘ecology’ and ‘the importance of rainforests’. However, fewer could identify correct explanations for ‘sustainable development’ and ‘the precautionary principle’. There was also confusion over the causes of ozone depletion suggesting a lack of depth in their understanding.

The knowledge and understanding base of the students was strong (Table 3.5). Nearly half (44%) were able to correctly define between 7 and 9 of the 11 concepts correctly. The mean number of questions answered correctly was 6.1 (SD 2.1). The results parallel a nation-wide survey conducted by Beijing Normal University in conjunction with the Canadian International Development and Research Centre (Beijing Normal University Department of Resources and Environmental Sciences, 1994). The survey was carried out in 10 provinces and involved nearly 8000 upper

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primary and a similar number of lower secondary children. Whilst Guangzhou was not included, results are unlikely to differ substantially from other affluent areas such as Shanghai where the young people demonstrated knowledge of potential issues such as those related to ozone depletion, limited resources and environmental problems from social and economic development. Environmental Beliefs

The majority of the young people (68%) felt that people in Guangzhou should concentrate on protecting the environment even if it means some reduction in economic growth while only 20 per cent put the economy first. An even larger proportion (81%) believed, however, that it is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment.

The responses indicated a general alignment with an environmental or ecocentric paradigm (Table 3.6). The students associated themselves with ideas of 'spaceship earth', 'harmony with nature', 'people being subject to the laws of nature', 'adaption' and 'saving resources for future generations', 'the intrinsic value of nature' and 'environmental protection'. This, however, is not to say that there was no belief in technology for there was a view that: Science and technology have improved the quality of life.

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Modern technology has increased people's freedom and independence. Complex technology can be made virtually risk free. There was a tendency to believe that science and technology will always be able to find solutions to environmental problems although 34 per cent felt the argument to be balanced for and against. Similarly, while there was a tendency to accept that complex technologies can be made risk free, over one third (37%) were unsure which position was dominant. The same applied in the case as to whether or not nature should be preserved for its own sake. What was noticeable was the number of young people who indicated that their views were evenly balanced between a technological and an environmental (ecocentric) position. How far this reflects the PRC government propaganda that emphasises ‘balance between economic growth and the environment’ and how far this expresses the students' basic uncertainty about conflicting ethical positions is open to speculation. Conversely, although 42 per cent believed that environmental protection should take precedence over economic development, 37% saw the argument to be balanced for and against. A similar perspective was apparent in the views that mankind should adapt to the environment rather than attempt to change it and that nature should be preserved for its own sake. There was, however, an equivocal position when technological beliefs were supported. Thus, 30% were ‘balanced’ in the view whether, or not, science and technology will always be able to provide solutions and whether, or not, complex technologies can be made virtually risk free. The results parallel, in many ways, the 1994 Beijing Normal University survey referred to earlier where the young people recognised that people’s behaviour must change. They claimed that they would be prepared to report offenders who polluted the environment. However, when asked if they would pay 10 yuan (just over US$1) towards processing waste products as many rejected the proposal as accepted. Those who would not go along with such action felt it was either too much or that it should not be necessary to pay. The young people in Guangzhou are clearly torn between their understanding of beliefs that are needed to support the environment and the view of technology which has generated employment and increased their material well-being in a way their parents could not have thought of. Environmental Actions

The young people surveyed exhibited a desire to be involved in improving the environment. The majority (76%) of the students declared their desire as either ‘strong’ or ‘very strong’. Over two thirds (71%) had taken action. Among these, most felt either positive about the experience (29%) or really good and motivated to do more (32%). The largest numbers of students who had participated in proenvironmental activities were involved primarily in personal/household actions (Table 3.7) that included: A decision to reuse or recycle rather than through away (58%) Choosing household products that are better for the environment (48%) Making an effort, for environmental reasons, to reduce water consumption (44%)

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Participating in clean up campaigns (44%) Trying to encourage others to change their practices that are harmful to the environment (40%).

Three actions in support of the environment were less popular: writing a letter or signing a petition with the aim of protecting the environment; making a report or a complaint; and donating money to conservation groups. Insight into the young people’s pattern of actions comes from their perceptions of their skills and knowledge to bring about environmental improvement. The students surveyed reported that there was little question of a lack of knowledge, belief or interest. Neither was there an un-willingness to being told about environmental protection. The level of belief in self-efficacy was lower than that for desire to be involved which was rated as very strong by 44 per cent and strong by 43 per cent. However, their ability was largely (68%) characterised as ‘medium. The perception of powerlessness was expressed by 33 per cent of the young people surveyed here. There was a feeling that there was no alternative to the status quo (44%).

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The findings conflict in some ways with the views of Lam (1993) who reported that teachers commented on the lack of family-community support and that pupils indicated that the family was rarely a source of information about the environment. Parents are often concerned with their own economic advancement and the academic success of their children rather than broader issues of the future health of the environment. Education

Judged in terms of the source where young people gained most information about the environment, TV with schools, newspapers and the radio featuring highly. Government and NGOs were regarded as the most reliable followed by the school and TV (Table 3,9). It has to be recognised, however, that most NGOs are government supported in some way and broadcasting media are not independent. The messages are usually the same. The view of the school as a crucial influence, however, is enhanced when one considers that only a small percentage of the young people reported discussing environmental issues with their family or friends on a regular basis. For example, only 11 per cent claimed to have done so once a month while 69 per cent said it happened only several times per year.)

A sizable proportion of the young people had discussed in class issues to do with renewable resources (67%), the ozone layer (49%), the greenhouse effect (46%), ecology (46%) and biodiversity (43%) (Table 3.10). The data also indicates lack of discussion in the home. Additionally, about one third said that they had not heard of the concepts of the carbon cycle, intergenerational equity and the precautionary principle. Concepts understood seem to be those which are a stated part of the geography and biology curriculums which are main avenues for environmental education. The young peoples’ expectations of schools concerning environmental education were very mixed. While 29 per cent felt that environmental education should be included at least one a month just over one half viewed environmental education as only an occasional learning activity. For the latter, their learning priorities lay

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elsewhere in the school curriculum dominated by the study of traditional disciplines. The problems implied here parallel the findings of Xu (1995). He noted that in a survey of environmental education in China, whilst about 70 per cent of primary and secondary schools list environmental education on their formal teaching curriculum, about half said they only did so under pressure from education authorities. Attitudes in Guangzhou are consistent with this. He concluded that teacher education was a major problem. Only just over one quarter of the teachers who were surveyed had an exposure to training in environmental education although the situation was better for primary school teachers in the most developed areas. Provision fell to one in six in the less developed parts of China. TV and radio followed by newspapers and magazines and finally official propaganda are the main sources of information rather than schools.

CONCLUSION Overall where does the survey leave us in our understanding of the environmental knowledge and attitudes of young people in Guangzhou? The survey indicates that young people are not ignorant of the fact that long-term remedies depend on attitudinal and behavioural change. Personal responsibility for the environment and environmental protection, however, is not always strong. Following the terminology of O’Riordan (1983), attitudes seem too often to be technocratic and managerial, or even cornucopian, rather than ecocentric. For too many of the young people in Guangzhou, the driving influences of personal development overwhelm many of their feelings for the environment. The challenge for the 21st century is the development of a deep commitment for the environment and to build on the environmental ethic which is starting to grow. Perhaps the most telling aspect of the findings were the beliefs that, while environmental improvement relied on the actions of government (67%) and on the community working together (74%) only 46 per cent - less than half - saw change in personal lifestyle as a prerequisite.

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REFERENCES Beijing Normal University Department of Resources and Environmental Sciences (1994). Survey on environmental consciousness of pupils in primary and middle schools in China. Unpublished paper, Department of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Beijing Normal University. Bond, M.H. (1991). Beyond the Chinese face: Insights from psychology. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Bradbury, I. and Kirkby, R. (1996). China’s Agenda 21: A critique, Applied Geography. 16 (2), 97-108. Cai, Y.N. (1991). Development of environmental education in China. Guangzhou: Biology Department, Guangzhou Teachers’ College. (In Chinese). Chen, Y. (1981). China, Bulletin of the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Asia and the Pacific, 22, 37-53. Edmonds. R.L. (1996). Geography and natural resources. In B. Hook (ed.) Guangdong: China's promised land. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guangzhou Environmental Protection Propaganda and Education Centre (1990). Secondary school environmental education. Beijing: Chinese Environmental Science. (In Chinese). Hofstede, G. (1980). Cultures and organisations: Software of the mind. Cambridge: McGraw-Hill. Hsu, F.G. (1975). Culture of the heart. Hong Kong: Chinese Cultural Society and the Nam Shan Book Store. (in Chinese). Jiang, X.L. (1994). The development of environmental education in China. Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Education ‘Environmental Education in the 21st Century’, Guangzhou, 29-31 December, 6-11. Kwan, T.Y.L. and Lidstone, J. (1997). Environmental education in the People’s Republic of China. A national policy, locally interpreted’. Environmental Education Research, 3 (2), 52-63. Lam, C.C. (1993). Values education in secondary school geography in Guangzhou. International research in geographical and environmental education, 2 (2), 52-63. Leung, J.Y.M. (1991). Curriculum development in the People’s Republic of China. In C. Marsh and P. Morris (eds) Curriculum development in East Asia. London: Falmer Press. Li Peng, (1994). Preface’. In State Planning Committee, China’s Agenda 21: white paper on China’s population, environment, and development in the 21st century. Beijing: China Environmental Science Press, 1-4. Moore, C.A. (1967). The Chinese mind. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Mote, F.W. (1989). Intellectual foundations of China. New York: McGraw Hill Publishing Co. O’Riordan, T. (1983). The nature of the environmental idea. In T. O’Riordan and R. Turner (eds) An annotated reader in environmental management and planning. Oxford: Pergamon Press. SCMP (1996). $13.4b earmarked for anti-pollution drive. South China Morning Post, 6 August, p.3. SCMP (2000) Soiled side of environmental protection on the mainland. South China Morning Post, 10 March, p.21. State Planning Committee (1994). China’s Agenda 21 - white paper on China’s population, environment, and development in the 21st century. Beijing: China Environmental Science Press. Wong, F.B.K.(1994). Chinese culture and environmental education. Proceedings of the International Conference on Environmental Education ‘Environmental Education in the 21st Century’, Guangzhou, 29-31, December, pp. 128-137. Wong, F.B.K. (1995). Rhetoric or reality Environmental education in Guangzhou. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 4 (2), 101-105. Xu, H. (1995). Some considerations on school environmental education in China. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 4 (2), 90-91. Yang, K.S. (1988). Chinese people’s psychology. Taipei: Gwei Gwan Tu Shu. (in Chinese). Zhu, H. (1995). Environmental education in the primary and secondary stages in the People’s Republic of China. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 4 (2), 92-95.

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PHILIP STIMPSON

4 CHINA - HONG KONG

Densely populated as it is, Hong Kong retains wide areas of tranquil charm, and more than 40 per cent of the territory is declared country park The territory’s environmental problems are common to most developed communities. Its rapid growth of population, industry and commerce remain at the root of pollution by human activities. (Hong Kong Government, 1997)

Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) within the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC), is a very small territory (only about 1080 square kilometres) but with a varied environment. The SAR comprises a series of islands, one of which is Hong Kong Island, and a part of the Chinese mainland. There are steep mountains rising to more than 900 metres that dominate the topography but there are also small areas of riverine and coastal lowland. Despite near complete deforestation, it is an area with diverse habitats including tracts of hill-grassland, pockets of feng shui woodland, mangrove swamp and, located near the boundary between tropical and temperate zones, some of the northernmost tropical reefs on the China coast. Its wetlands are important stopping-off points for the annual north-south bird migrations. Economically, Hong Kong is a high-income economy (Islam and Chowdhury, 1997) and, despite a relative stationary economy at the turn of the Millennium, its economy grew at 4 to 5.5 per cent per annum averaged over the preceding decade. It boasts the third highest GDP per capita in Asia (US$23,000) and suffers all the environmental consequences this entails. Over the past two decades, the population has risen by 30 per cent but GDP and waste generation has increased by 300 per cent (EPD, 1994). Today, for example, Hong Kong produces over 2,000,000 tonnes of liquid wastes and 22,500 tonnes of solid and semi-solid wastes per day but only 20% receives proper treatment with most of the remainder being left as raw effluent (Hong Kong Government, 1997). Despite regulation, some 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 people (about one quarter of the population) are exposed to unacceptable levels of sulphur and nitrogen dioxides and half of the population suffers from high dust levels. Concern for environmental quality, despite the efforts of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), often plays a poor second fiddle to economic concerns. For example, there is the problem of illegal dumping of wastes and the low level of fines for transgressors (Environmental Protection Department, 1994). 39 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 39-52. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Socially, the Hong Kong SAR represents a ‘fascinating but problematic admixture (but rarely amalgam) of races, of cultures, of lifestyles’ (Sweeting, 1995, p.44). The SAR is also highly urbanised with all this means for attitudes and values. The area was ceded to the British in a series of what China regarded as unequal treaties dating from 1841. British and Commonwealth influences were and, in the early days of the SAR, remain strong. However, the reversion of sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) which occurred in 1997 has led to a resurgence of traditional Chinese values. Over the last 150 years, Hong Kong, which is the home today for 7 million people (Hong Kong Government, 2000), has acted as a bridge between China and the West. Although at its heart it is a Chinese city-state and over 95% of its population are ethnically Chinese, it is a place with a history of outside influence. Furthermore, the territory has developed as a laissez faire international trading and manufacturing centre in which global entrepreneurial values have been espoused. Over the century, many Hong Kong Chinese have emigrated or gone abroad to study, but so too many have returned, particularly from North America and Australia, bringing with them new skills, ideas and expectations for society. At the same time Hong Kong has become home to many people from Europe, North America and other parts of Australasia. Sweeting (1995) comments that whilst ‘some (foreign citizens) would claim a ‘sense of belonging’ to Hong Kong, few, except possible the Eurasians, can confidently feel it’ (p. 44). Nonetheless, their influence in helping shape attitudes cannot be discounted and at times has been disproportionate to their numbers. Many are professionals and managers with a concern for quality of life at a personal if not always public level. Added to this ‘expatriate group’ are people coming from other areas of China under family reunification programmes and increasingly as business professionals. They come largely to seek work and a better material life for their families. Employment opportunities and economic gain are the main priority. This chapter examines the knowledge, attitudes and espoused behaviour of young people in the Hong Kong SAR in regard to their environment. However, before going onto the results of the survey, it is perhaps necessary to provide a brief understanding of the context which has informed young people's conceptions of the environment. INFLUENCES ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT

Culture and the Environment For Chinese people in Hong Kong, Confucian cultural notions lie deep in their psyche. Confucianism provides a set of social rules in which the behaviour of individuals and individuals’ responsibilities are crucial. It emphasises a person’s relationship with his or her fellows and surroundings. Morality originates in people’s lives and moral behaviour depends on the personal decisions of individuals. Values and beliefs, being centred on the person, tend to assume tangible rather than metaphysical proportions and are reflected in the way ideas are often conceptualised

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in concrete rather than abstract terms. Environment becomes something which is perceived of in real terms and is intimately related to the individual and the individual’s desires. The perspective is pragmatic. Conflicting arguments can be deduced concerning the influence of traditional thinking. On the one hand, Confucianism, like Buddhism, looks for balance in the actions of people and implies stewardship and. reciprocity (treating other people as you would like to be treated yourself). This is encapsulated in the idea of jen which means ‘magnanimity’, ‘benevolence’, ‘perfect virtue’ and ‘moral character’ (Moore, 1967). The unity of Chinese thinking is exemplified in the ideas of feng shui which, from one perspective, can be seen as a rationalisation of success or failure in life in terms of the environmental context. It is a belief system invoking the working of mysterious earth forces which originates from a rural agrarian society. It makes sense to appreciate that well-being comes from an environment that provides adequate supplies of water, a sunny aspect and protection from cold winds. It is a force in rural areas for environmental conservation but, over time, has become elaborated to accommodate the conditions of a more urbanised society. The underlying environmental relationships remain and are a part of the Hong Kong view of life. On the other hand, Lau (1982) describes this attitude as a kind of utilitarian familism in which the pursuit of self and family interest often supersedes interest in communal responsibility. The ‘modern Chinese’ of Hong Kong retain essential largely Confucian virtues but also espouse technical mastery and achievement (Bond, 1991). Both are ingredients of entrepreneurial success which, in the Hong Kong economic situation, give rise to potential conflict with the environment. Overall, the possibility of a mutually selective interaction between traditional Chinese cultural values and new institutional norms seems more than likely. Government Policy and the Environment

The Hong Kong government has increasingly sought to influence people’s attitudes to the environment. However, a tendency to be reactive rather than proactive means that its actions are often described as ‘too little too late’. Nonetheless, government influence on public attitudes over the longer term cannot be undervalued. The major environmental concerns of government in the 1950s and 1960s centred on environmental health, refuse disposal, fish quality, potable water, etc. Country Parks were declared in the 1970s to protect water catchments, conserve nature and provide leisure facilities with a series of Water Control Zones established in the 1980s. The approach was largely, as elsewhere, technocratic with any influence on public attitudes being largely an indirect spin-off from publicising engineering solutions. An Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) was formed in 1978 and later upgraded to become the Environmental Protection Department (EPD). However, most of its actions did not address the root causes of environmental problems. Instead, they tended to instill a public perception that the environment was the responsibility of government rather than the individual. While such

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paternalism may have met the needs of territory, it lulled many into a false sense of security. Nevertheless, the environment had become a major cause by the late 1980s. An emerging climate of democracy led the government to realise that public support was needed for its polluter-pays policies. A Green Challenge for the Community was published in 1993 and a review of efforts to promote sustainable development in 1996. These encouraged a more proactive social as well as engineering approach to the solution of environment problems. To these ends it embarked on major publicity and education drives. Whilst the environment is still regarded as important, the present Government, which is setting policies for the early years of the next millennium, often seems more preoccupied by issues such education, housing and the economy. There have, for example, been recent serious suggestions to solve the housing problem by redesignating land from the Country Parks and instigating a new balance between protected land and land for development; such proposals would have been unacceptable five years ago. The present Chief Executive accepts that environmental quality is important; however, following the return of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, when he was establishing key task forces to tackle major problem areas, the environment was not represented. The business lobby today, as in many other parts of the world, speaks from a stronger position although it has to be recognised that politically the SAR is still in the throws of sorting out the types of people it wishes to make decisions. Outcomes are hard to predict. NGOs and the Media

NGOs in Hong Kong are active but do not receive widespread support. The main groups involved (the Hong Kong Conservancy Association and local chapters of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature) are largely seen as the preserve of a section of the young middle-class and the very wealthy elderly. Their influence, nonetheless, belies their size. They have an important catalytic role in raising awareness, keeping the environment in the forefront of the media and lobbying for change. Recently, they have become more active in the community with, for example, neighbourhood ‘greening’ schemes seeking to encourage energy conservation and waste recycling. Industry set up a Private Sector Committee on the Environment (PSCE) in 1991 and a Centre for Environmental Technology (CET) to encourage practical solutions within business to environmental problems. It is supported by twenty major companies in Hong Kong. These represent about 68% of the major companies employing about 160,000 people. However, businesses in the SAR largely comprise small companies which do not always identify with the committee or feel committed to the environment (Gibbs and Healey, 1997); nonetheless, the PSCE seeks to set examples others will follow. The media have played an important role by highlighting environmental problems and critically evaluating environmental schemes. Indeed, Sweeting (1995) argues that contemporary Hong Kong is characterised by a ‘media mentality’. Thus,

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television is the dominant news medium in Hong Kong, especially among young people, although Hong Kong adults are also avid newspaper readers. News over the latter part of the 1990s has been dominated, not surprisingly, by change of sovereignty questions and the economy. However, few issues of newspapers have not contained some reference to the environment although local and regional issues tend to dominate. Environmental Education The contemporary pattern of environmental education in the Hong Kong has to be understood in its historical context. The environmental movement of the 1960s and '70s largely passed the territory and its education system by. Most educational innovation was vocationally directed towards the creation of a more technologically literate population (Lee, 1991) and building infrastructure for the economy (Sung, 1989). Provision focused on basic schooling and quantity rather than quality (Sweeting, 1996). For the elite minority, there was a high status, highly academic, discipline-focused curriculum and, when general reforms occurred, they tended to centre on traditional school subjects. Cross-curricular subjects were not favoured. Environmental quality was perceived as a luxury and environmental education as peripheral. Environmental education that existed largely comprised `natural history' and environmental health within existing subjects. However, by the early 1980s, a few Government subject committees, notably those for geography, economics and public affairs and science, undertook individual initiatives. Nonetheless, deep commitment to promoting an environmental ethic was rarely seen and little attention was given to the affective and conative. Efforts were piecemeal and uncoordinated. The situation changed with the drastic deterioration of the environment in the 1990s and the Environmental Protection Department’s recognition that it had to become involved in education. It was decided that the mainstay of environmental education within formal education would be delivered through a cross-curricular, ‘whole-school’ approach permeating all subjects. To this end, the Government Education Department published a set of Environmental Guidelines for Schools in 1992 (revised in 1999). These largely reflected directions set out in UNESCO conferences of the late 1970s and 1980s, sustainable development and sustainable living being added in 1999. The guidelines clarified the aims of environmental education for Hong Kong, highlighted the parts of existing curricula that are relevant to environmental education and suggested ways of teaching. Environmental education was defined as a process concerned with understanding the environment, enhancing skills and developing the values and attitudes necessary for participation in improving the quality of the environment. The stated goals were: To promote in pupils a lifelong forward looking concern for the environment and to prepare young people for making informed, justifiable and practical decisions regarding the conservation of the environment so as to enable them to live as useful and responsible citizens. (Education Department, 1992) These centred on the young person as a future decision-maker. Terms such as practical and responsible suggest solely instrumental aims vis-a-vis government

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policy. However, the objectives, with key terms and phrases such as 'love of nature', 'appreciation', 'respect', 'responsibility', 'commitment to sustainability', 'holistic understanding at the local and global level' and 'environmentally friendly lifestyles' (Education Department, 1992, p.8), suggest in reality a more personal, liberal educational approach is intended. Four guiding principles for the formal and informal curriculum throughout the school are that: (i) learning should be experiential rather than instructional; (ii) a balanced viewpoint should be maintained; (iii) emphasis should be laid on the formation of attitudes; and (iv) individual contribution and participation should be encouraged. A number of studies have attempted to evaluate what has been achieved (Cheng, 1994; the Department of Curriculum Studies HKU, 1994; Ngan, 1995; Lee, 1996; Lam, 1995; Wong and Stimpson, 1994). The general situation in Hong Kong is one of quiet consolidation after a period of more intense interest in the early 1990s. Evidence suggests that there is no lack of awareness of the need for environmental education among teachers, curriculum developers and teacher educators. However, teaching tends to avoid politics or radical stances. Experiential learning and issues based enquiry is far from the norm. The schools seem overwhelmed by the perceived constraints, such as, the timetable, resources, support from within the schools and training. There are also concerns about competing demands from educational initiatives. Teachers seem concerned with environmental education at the level of ‘routine use’ within the confines of their subject. There is little indication that teachers are looking for cross-curricular integration or are seeking to renew their whole philosophy and practice with respect to their teaching in environmental education. Added to this, overall approaches in teacher education institutions create a climate in which it is difficult to inculcate the sorts of skills and attitudes required by potential environmental educators (Stimpson, 1994, 1995). Environmental education is on the agenda but radical changes seem unlikely. THE HONG KONG STUDY

The 1996 survey research in Hong Kong involved a total of 447 students and was derived from 9 secondary schools containing pupils from the upper one third of the ability range. All the schools, typical of Hong Kong, could be classified as urban schools and each contained about 1300 students. The students, 299 girls and 148 boys, were aged between 14 and 17 years with the mean being aged 15 to 16. About one half were a part of the humanities stream while about a quarter were from the science stream; the remainder were from the business stream. Levels of Concern about Personal, Social and Environmental Issues

The concerns of young people in Hong Kong can be gauged concerning goals for the SAR. At the top of their lists environmental issues in particular ‘preventing war and nuclear the environment’ and ‘creating a fairer more humane society’

from their priorities were societal and threats’, ‘protecting (Table 4.1). On the

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other hand, building strong defense forces was seen by hardly anyone as important. The high priorities largely match those of the other Asia-Pacific countries surveyed. The importance of protecting the environment is paralleled by a more recent survey of students’ concerns for the 21st century by the Caritas Youth and Community Service (SCMP, 2000). However, the issues of war and creating a fairer society were probably more a feature of the time when the data were collected. Hong Kong was in the run up to the change of sovereignty when democracy was an issue. At the same time, there was tension between Taiwan and Mainland China as both sides flexed their military might. Interestingly, in the Caritas survey in the period of the post Asia economic crisis, economic issues were more prominent.

When asked about environmental issues facing the SAR, ‘overpopulation’ and ‘air pollution’ were identified as the most important issues out of a list of twelve (Table 4.2). Hong Kong has some of the highest population densities in the world with just over 54,000 per square kilometer in the new town district of Kwun Tong. In addition to ‘cheek by jowl living’, there was, at the time considerable concern about the arrival of illegal immigrants. Air pollution was becoming chronic with increasing numbers of days when SAR objectives were exceeded. Of all the sources of pollution, air pollution is the most obvious, the most discussed and the most personal. While air pollution was a local concern in many of the other countries surveyed, the emphasis on population was restricted to China, India and Indonesia where the problems are most acute. Environmental issues for the world were headed strongly by the ‘destruction of the ozone layer’ and then ‘the greenhouse effect’ and ‘cutting down of forests’. Here Hong Kong paralleled the concerns of the other countries. Concern, however, seems unstable. The transitory nature of local concerns is apparent when the findings from Wong and Yan (1995) are compared. Coastal and marine pollution topped their list at a time when Hong Kong was suffering from a spate of red tides.

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Environmental Awareness and Knowledge The young people were most aware of three concepts in particular, namely the ideas of ‘renewable resources’, ‘the greenhouse effect’ and ‘the ozone layer’ (Table 4.3). They were least familiar with the ideas of ‘the precautionary principle’, ‘intergenerational equity’, ‘sustainable development’, ‘the carbon cycle’, ‘carrying capacity’ and, perhaps surprisingly, ‘biodiversity’, all which had not been heard of by nearly half or more of the students. The students understanding of environmental concepts was varied (Table 4.4). The young people could recognise correct explanations for ‘carrying capacity’, ‘intergenerational equity’, ‘ecology’ and ‘the importance of rainforests’. However, fewer could identify correct explanations for ‘sustainable development’ and ‘the precautionary principle’. There was also confusion over the causes of ozone depletion suggesting a lack of depth in their understanding. The knowledge and understanding base of the students was not strong (Table 4.5). Nearly half (47%) were only able to correctly define between 4 and 6 of the 11 concepts correctly. The mean number of questions answered correctly was 4.7 (SD 2.1). Overall it seems that there is awareness but knowledge lacks depth and accuracy.

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Environmental Beliefs

The majority of the young people (59%) felt that people in Hong Kong should concentrate on protecting the environment even if it means some reduction in economic growth while only 32 per cent put the economy first. An even larger proportion (75%) believed, however, that it is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. The pragmatism of Hong Kong people referred to earlier makes itself apparent as it did in the earlier study of Wong and Yan (1995). On the other hand, Table 4.6 shows that only about one-fifth of the students espoused a technological perspective when asked to decide between positions which were either technological or environmental/ecocentric. More than three-quarters were claimed an environmental position.

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The responses indicated a general alignment with an environmental or ecocentric paradigm. The students associated themselves with ideas of 'spaceship earth', 'harmony with nature', 'adaption', 'the intrinsic value of nature' and 'environmental protection'. This, however, is not to say that there was no belief in technology for there was a tendency to believe that: Science and technology have improved the quality of life. Modern technology has increased people's freedom and independence. Science and technology will always be able to find solutions. The young people are clearly faced with a dilemma. They are torn between their understanding of the beliefs that are needed to support the environment and the technology which has often served them well to date and provided increasing material well-being. Environmental Actions

The young people surveyed exhibited a desire to be involved in improving the environment. Seventy-six per cent of the students declared their desire as either ‘medium’ or ‘strong’. Some 60 per cent had taken action and most felt positive about the experience. The largest numbers of students who had participated in proenvironmental activities were involved primarily household actions that included: A decision to reuse or recycle rather than throw away (58%) Choosing household products that are better for the environment (37%) Making an effort, for environmental reasons, to reduce water consumption (36%) Trying to encourage others to change their practices that are harmful to the environment (35%)

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It should be noted that at the time of the survey the EPD was running TV commercials encouraging an environmental lifestyle.

Less popular actions were: (i) writing a letter or signing a petition with the aim of protecting the environment, (ii) making a report or a complaint, (iii) trying to get information on protecting the environment and (iv) taking part in tree planting schemes, the first two being generally unacceptable in Chinese society. These results largely parallel those of Wong and Yan (1995) where they found few students would participate in community activities to improve the environment. The pattern of actions can possibly be understood by reference to the young people’s perceptions of their skills and knowledge to bring about environmental improvement. The level of belief in self-efficacy was lower than that for desire to be involved. Their ability was neither strong nor weak but largely (56%) characterised as ‘medium’. This parallels earlier findings in Hong Kong by Lai (1992) where locus of control tended not to be internal and students lacked a feeling of selfempowerment. The perception of powerlessness was expressed by 39 per cent of the young people surveyed here. There was a feeling that there was no alternative to the status quo (45%).

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Perhaps, in part, this situation derives from the pattern of support that was not particularly strong (Table 4.8). Certainly it was not because any disbelief concerning the existence of environmental degradation, which was reported by only 9 per cent, or because of youthful resentment or reaction to being ‘told’ about the problem (9%). What seems to come over, overall, is a feeling of reluctance in a social climate that does not presuppose community action towards the environment. The findings concur with studies by the Youth Federation (1991) and Yeung (1993) who concluded that in general there was little inclination to act widely to protect the environment. To most, environmental improvement is a matter of reducing pollution levels which risk degrading the quality of their life styles. Global issues seem less important. Education

Judged in terms of the source where young people gained information about the environment, TV, NGOs, schools, and newspapers featured most highly with NGOs and the school being regarded as the most reliable (Table 4.9). The view of the school as a crucial influence is further enhanced when one considers that only 3 per cent of the young people reported discussing environmental issues with their family or friends on a regular basis at least one a week. (Only 16 per cent claimed to have done so once a month while 64 per cent said it happened only several times per year.) A sizable proportion of the young people had discussed in class issues to do with the greenhouse effect (59%), renewable resources (56%), the ozone layer (47%) and ecology (35%) (Table 4.10). On the other hand, more than half said that they had not heard of the concepts of the carbon cycle, biodiversity, intergenerational equity and the precautionary principle. These are topics not directly referred to in the geography and biology curriculum that are main avenues into which EE is infused. The young people’s expectations of schools concerning environmental education were mixed. While 41 per cent felt that environmental education should be included at least once a month, nearly half viewed environmental education as only an occasional learning activity. Clearly for the latter, their learning priorities lay elsewhere in a school curriculum dominated by the study of traditional disciplines.

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While Ng (1991) argued that formal education was making a difference in respect of the level of people’s knowledge about the environment, the findings here suggests that non-formal education is as, if not more, important. Despite the efforts of certain groups of teachers and the rhetoric of curriculum documents, environmental education provision in schools is limited generally in its extent and focus and in all probability the media have at least as great an impact as the school in shaping young people’s attitudes towards the environment. CONCLUSION The environmental values of young people in Hong Kong reflect great ambivalence, just as it does in many communities. Individuals, government and educators believe that values consistent with sustainable development need to be cultivated and information about the environment is readily available in schools and the media. Unfortunately, the overall social and cultural climate in Hong Kong does not always support the environmental concerns, beliefs and actions of young people.

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REFERENCES Bond, M.H. (1991). Beyond the Chinese face. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Cheng, V.W.M. (1994). Implementation of environmental education through the teaching of S4 - S5 biology, geography and history in Hong Kong secondary schools, unpublished M.Ed Dissertation, The University of Hong Kong. Education Department (1992). Guidelines on environmental education in schools. Hong Kong: The Government Printer Environmental Protection Department (1994). Annual report of the environmental protection department. Hong Kong: The Government Printer. Gibbs, D. and Healey, M. (1997). Industrial geography and the environment. Applied Geography, 17 (3), 193-203. Hong Kong Youth Federation (1991). Survey of the environmental knowledge of students. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Youth Federation. (in Chinese). Hong Kong Government (1997). Hong Kong 1997: A review of 1996. Hong Kong: The Government Printer. Islam, I. and Chowdhury, A. (1997). Asia-Pacific economies. London, Routledge. Lai, G.Y.S.L. (1992). The relationships among environmental attitude, locus of control and environmental behaviour of Form Six students in Hong Kong, unpublished M.Ed Dissertation, The University of Hong Kong. Lam, K.K. (1995). A study of the concerns and practices of the heads of geography departments in the implementation of environmental education in secondary schools of Hong Kong, unpublished M.Ed Dissertation, The University of Hong Kong. Lau, S.K. (1982). Society and politics in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. Lee, J.C.K. (1996). A study of environmental attitudes and concepts of geography student-teachers: Implications for teacher education. International Research in Geographic and Environmental Education, 5 (3), 154-171. Lee, W.O. (1991). Science and technology education: Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. In W. O. Lee (ed.) Social change and educational problems in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Macmillan. Moore, C.A. (1967). The Chinese mind: Essentials of Chinese philosophy and culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Ng, G.T.L. (1991). New environmental paradigm survey: 1991. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Environmental Centre. Ngan, L. (1995). A study of the perceptions of secondary school teachers and student teachers in environmental ethics in Hong Kong, unpublished M.Ed Dissertation, The University of Hong Kong. SCMP (2000). Environment students’ top worry. South China Morning Post, 15 January, p.6. Stimpson, P.G. (1994). Environmental education and classroom practice: Some implications for teacher education. International Research in Geographic and Environmental Education, 3 (2), 22-34. Stimpson, P.G. (1995). Sustainable development and environmental education: Implications for teaching and teacher education’, unpublished paper presented at the Regional Environmental Seminar and Workshop: Environmental Education in Action and Partnership, 11-14 December, The University of Hong Kong. Sung, Y.W. (1989). The Hong Kong development model and its future evolution. In Y.C. Jao, Mok, V. and Ho, L. (eds) Economic Development in Chinese societies: Models and experiences, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Sweeting, A. E. (1995). Hong Kong. In P. Morris and A. Sweeting (eds) Education and development in East Asia, New York: Garland Publishing. Wong, E.M.O. and Stimpson, P.G. (1994). Teaching styles of Hong Kong’s environmental educators in secondary schools. Research in Education, 52, 1-12. Wong, K.K. and Yan W.L. (1995). Survey report of the attitudes and behaviour of secondary school teachers and students in Hong Kong in 1995. Hong Kong: Baptist University. Yeung, P.M. (1993). Geography teaching and environmental consciousness among Hong Kong secondary school students, unpublished M.Phil Thesis, The University of Hong Kong.

RAPEEPUN SUWANNATACHOTE, CHATCHAI RATANACHAI AND WIWAT LEE

5 THAILAND

This land of Sukhothai is thriving. There is fish in the water and rice in the fields ... The King has hung a bell in the opening of the gate over there; if any commoner has a grievance which sickens his belly and grips his heart, he goes and strikes the bell; King Ram Khamhaeng questions the man, examines the case and decides it justly for him. (Cummings, 1995, p. 12)

This famous passage from Sukhotai’s King Ram Inscription is not only evidence of Thailand’s long history of written language, it also reflects Thailand’s exceptional richness in natural resources and culture. Thailand’s famous flora includes an incredible array of fruit trees, bamboo, tropical hardwoods and over 27 000 flower species (Cummings, 1995). More than 10 per cent of the world’s known fauna species can also be found in Thailand. Called ‘Siam’ until 1939, the name ‘Thailand’ means ‘the land of freedom’. It is located in the centre of the South East Asian mainland and covers an area of 513,115 square kilometres. The indigenous Thai people originally came from the mountainous areas of the Yunan Province of China and gradually spread southwards into the areas now known as Lao PDR, northern Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand. The first true Thai kingdom was established along the Chao Phraya River in 1238 and was called the Kingdom of Sukhothai (Islam and Chawdhury, 1997). Buddhism was widely adopted in Sukhothai and has since remained the dominant religion in Thailand. The Siamese power centre shifted to Ayutthaya in the 15th century, where it blossomed for over four centuries until the Burmese invaded in 1765. Another shortlived Siamese state centre was founded at Thonburi, near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River in 1769, but it was overthrown by the house of Chakri in 1782. This marked the beginning of the modern Thai state. The Chakris moved the capital across the river to Bangkok which remains the capital of modern Thailand. In 1999, Thailand had a population of approximately 61 million people. People of Chinese ancestry constitute 11 per cent of the population. The second largest ethnic minority living in Thailand are the Malays (4%), most of whom reside in the southern border provinces of Songkhla, Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Satun. 53 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 53—63. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Smaller, non-Thai speaking groups, such as Vietnamese and Khmer make up the remaining 10 per cent of the population. In 1980, the literacy level of the Thai population reached 86 per cent and it has been continually rising since then. In 1985, 97.7 per cent of the Thai population engaged in compulsory education. Approximately 95 per cent of the population of Thailand are Theravada Buddhists. Approximately 4 per cent of the total population, including a small percentage of Thais and the majority of the Malay population in the south, are Muslim. INFLUENCES ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT

The Buddhist Religion

Dreyer (1996: p. 56) noted that ‘Buddhism is an environmentally friendly religion that gives clear rules about the way we should utilise, protect and appreciate the environment and about what our disposition towards it should be.’ Given that 95 per cent of the population are Buddhist, its philosophy has significantly influenced Thai value systems and attitudes towards the environment. Historically, not only do Thai people have great respect for the environment, but their way of life has been harmonised with nature too. In the modern era, as socio-economic development has become a priority for Thailand, some cultural values appear to have been influenced by the ‘new world order’ – free market capitalism, technology and materialism. Some academics believe that politico-economic factors have recently become more influential than Buddhism in the formation of the cultural values of Thai people. The Role of the Media

In recent years, most local newspapers have significantly increased their coverage of environmental news and issues. Numerous popular songs also touch on environmental issues. In the Thai context, such songs are among the most effective forms of environmental communication. In a survey of Grade 7-10 students around the country, Wattanasaree (1990) found that most of their information about the environment was received from newspapers, radio and television. The State of the Environment

TDRI (1992) and OEPP (1996) indicated in the Report of the State of Environment that the nation’s most serious environmental issues which required careful attention included: The disruption of the natural ecosystem, especially forest and wildlife, was a result of deforestation;

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Poor water quality in most bodies of water – largely due to poor management; Traffic congestion problems in large cities cause air and noise pollution problems; Dramatic increase in areas that are at high risk of erosion; Rapid decline in mangrove areas; Domestic solid waste management issues, including an inability to acquire sufficient land for disposal sites to cope with the rapidly increasing urban population, the famous NIMBY (‘not in my backyard’) syndrome, the inability to develop a long term plan for solid waste management; and Hazardous waste issues and conflicts with the affected communities. In addition, the UNDP (1994) lists the causes of environmental problems in Thailand as: Lack of effective policy instruments; Lack of political will; Inadequate institutional capacity; Inadequate training of staff; Inadequate coordination and cooperation among key agencies; Inadequate investment of financial resources; and Low public awareness of environmental problems and options for their amelioration. In recent years, environmental issues have received more and more attention from the public. Among the most debated issues at present are solid waste disposal site selection and the construction of large projects. Efforts to settle these public disputes have led to the introduction of a public participation process, especially in environmental impact assessment, in the Eighth National Plan. Environmental Education

Attention to environmental education in Thailand was first observed in 1978 when it was included as part of ‘General Knowledge’ in the National Primary and Secondary School Curricula. In the primary school curriculum, the natural resources and environment subjects were added and integrated into other subjects due to their interdisciplinary nature. Environmental issues are addressed in the subject ‘Life Experience Enhancement’. In the secondary school curriculum, environmental education was incorporated in both social science and science subjects. There is no subject specifically designed to teach environmental education. The Thai government, in its Fifth National Plan (1982-1986), began to make clear its policy on environmental education. Recognizing the rapid increase in environmental problems, the Sixth and Seventh National Plans (1987-1996) continued to emphasise environmental education through inter alia, the development of environmentally-related curricula and training of special personnel (Veeravatananond and Sripanpong, 1996). Meanwhile, USAID sponsored the Ministry of Education’s first Master Plan on Environment (1991-1996). This master

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plan consisted of a set of goals, strategies, rationale, work plans and activities, aimed at creating awareness among students and the population about conserving natural resources and the environment. Since 1994, the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has identified selected schools around the country and established them as Provincial Environmental Education Centres to promote environmental education activities at the provincial level. However, this effort has not been very successful. It was found that the implementation of the plan varied from school to school and this caused problems, including: A lack of clear understanding about the Environmental Education Plan; Insufficient number of teachers knowledgeable about environmental issues; and Individual schools’ policies and administrators’ will (Suwannatachote, 1997). THE THAI STUDY

The surveys were carried out in the Hat Yai Nakon municipality in southern Thailand in 1997 and 1998. Hat Yai, a district of Songkhla province, became a Nakon municipality in 1995. It is a commercial centre and one of the country’s largest cities. The total sample of 992 students was derived from 3 selected high performing secondary schools in Hat Yai – a small, private boy’s school (a ‘small’ school refers to a school with less than 200 students in each grade), a small, private girl’s school and a large, public co-ed school. A small number of these students (40 in total), participated in four focus group interviews. Levels of Concern about Personal, Social and Environmental Issues

When the students were asked to express views about their hopes and fears about the future, they expressed concerns about both environmental problems such as waste management, and personal issues such as university entrance exams, employment, etc. When asked about the most important goals for Thailand, respondents indicated strong concern about issues related to their personal well-being, particularly ‘strengthening the economy’, ‘improving educational standards’ and ‘creating a fairer and more humane society.’ Their concern about strengthening the economy may have reflected the importance of the country’s economic downturn in 1997. In response to questions about environmental issues facing Thailand, the students identified ‘cutting down of forests’ as the most important issue at a national level and as the second most important issue at a global level (Table 5.1). Interestingly, in the focus group interviews, the students expressed a greater concern for local environmental problems than for those of a national or global nature. The most frequently mentioned local issues were water pollution and solid waste management.

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Students were also concerned about the rapid decline in forest areas in Thailand and the subsequent drought.

Environmental Awareness and Knowledge The students had a reasonable understanding when asked to define the concept of ‘environment.’ The defined it as ‘everything that surrounds us’, both natural and social environments. Most of the students were aware of the ten key environmental concepts; however, their level of awareness was variable. While they had a very strong awareness of the concepts ‘ozone layer’, ‘the greenhouse effect’, ‘ecology’ and ‘the precautionary principle’ (these concepts had been discussed in their classes), they reported that they had never encountered concepts such as ‘sustainable development’, ‘carbon cycle’ and ‘carrying capacity’ (Table 5.2).

When students were asked to define these, as well as other environmental concepts, it was revealed that the students’ knowledge was moderate, with the largest number of students answering between 4 and 6 questions correctly (Table 5.3). The average student score was 6 (out of a possible 11). The concept which was most correctly defined was ‘ecology’ (82%). However, other ‘very well known concepts’ were less correctly defined, for example, only 39 per cent correctly

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defined ‘ozone layer’ and only 15 per cent gave a correct definition for ‘the greenhouse effect’.

When the students in the focus group were asked to explain in their own words, the cause of the environmental problems, they thought that most environmental problems were caused by humans and humans should change their behaviour and pay more attention to caring for the environment. Some students seemed rather pessimistic that this would ever happen, but they hoped that the environment would not get worse. The students identified some basic characteristics which they believed were most problematic, including: human desire, negligence, disobedience of laws and government and industry attitudes. As some of the students said in focus group interviews: Human behaviour is a problem. Humans have not been sufficiently taught about environmental awareness. Economic systems may also play a role. Urban populations pay very little attention to the environment. When they begin to do so, it is already too late. They only begin to pay attention to the environment when the impact is direct and bad.

Some students felt that people are becoming more interested in and aware of the environment. They felt that recent movements towards environmental conservation and reforestation were good signs. Television, school and newspapers were reported as the most important sources of environmental information for young people in Thailand (Table 5.4). Family and government environmental bodies were also popular sources of information. These findings were supported by the focus group interviews. However, in addition, the young people identified personal experiences as a major source of environmental information.

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In the interviews, personal experience was also cited as the most reliable source of information since it was the most direct and perceivable in their daily lives. However, they pointed out that not all information gathered from the media was reliable, with the exception of documentary style programs and programs that were televised live. Surprisingly, young people identified non-governmental groups, government environmental bodies, television and school as very reliable sources of information (Table 5.5).

Environmental Beliefs Students were asked to rank their reaction to twelve pairs of opposing statements about environmental beliefs on a five-point scale. Table 5.6 shows the percentage of students who believed either in an environmental or technological paradigm.

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The pro-environmental response of the students (83%) is strongest in relation to the statement ‘the earth is like a spaceship with limited room and resources.’ In contrast, the strongest pro-technological response concerned the statement ‘complete technologies can be made virtually risk-free through continual improvements’ (46% stated that they strongly agreed and 10 per cent agreed with this statement). It is interesting that over a third of the students (selecting the neutral response) to the following statements: ‘Science and technology will always be able to find solutions to our problems’ (57%); ‘Economic growth should be given priority over environmental protection’ (43%); ‘Modern technology has reduced our freedom and independence’ (40%); and ‘Science and technology have improved our quality of life’ (39%). Most students (71%) felt that Thailand should concentrate on the environment even if it means some reduction in economic growth. When asked if economic growth is bound to be at the expense of the environment, most of the students stated that they believe it is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. In the interviews, the young people expressed strong feelings about environmental problems and most responses were similar: bad, horrible or threatening. Environmental Actions

A large number of the students (42%) indicated that they had a strong desire to improve the environment, 33 per cent reported a very strong desire and 23 per cent a moderate desire. Only 1 per cent reported that they had a very weak desire to improve the environment. However, the scores relating to the students’ perceptions of their own skills and knowledge to bring about environmental improvements were substantially lower. Over two-thirds of the students (72%) rated their skills as moderate while a much smaller number (6%) rated them as high. Approximately two-thirds (67%) of the students stated that they have taken action to improve the environment. The most frequent action taken was ‘making an effort, for environmental reasons, to reduce water consumption’ (64%). Others included:

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‘Deciding to reuse or recycle something rather than throwing it away’ (55%); ‘Choosing household products that are better for the environment’ (52%); and ‘Taking part in a tree-planting scheme’ (49%). Less popular actions related to ‘collecting information for your own interest’ (10%), ‘writing a letter or signing a petition with the aim of protecting or improving the environment’ (4%). For most students, the main reasons for not having taken deliberate action for the environment were: ‘I feel that there is no practical alternative’ (73%); and ‘I do not think my actions will make much difference’ (44%). Education

The majority of students (73%) indicated that they talk about the environment outside of school several times during the year. Some students (11%) stated that they talk about the environment outside school at least once a month, only 3 per cent reported that they talk about the environment regularly and a further 13 per cent stated that they never talk about the environment. It was probably as a result of this lack of discussion that the students said that they would like to see a greater level of attention paid to environmental issues at school. The majority of students indicated that they would like to discuss the environment at least once a month or several times a year (Table 5.8).

Gender differences

Female students, compared with their male counterparts, expressed a strong belief that Thailand should concentrate on protecting the environment even if it means some damage to the economy ( p< .0001). However, the female students’ beliefs on the environmental paradigm are not significantly different from those of the male students and their overall knowledge of environmental concepts was also no different to their male counterparts. No difference was observed between genders concerning their perceptions of the most important environmental issues at both national and global levels. They also agreed on the changes that are required to bring about environmental improvement.

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The males, as compared with their female contemporaries, reported more discussion of environmental issues outside class ( p< .0001) and that they would like to see environmental issues discussed more frequently in class ( p< .0001). Male students showed a stronger desire to be involved in improving the environment (t = 3.95, p< .0001). They reported that they did more things to improve the environment than female students (t = 2.63, p< .01). However, there was no difference between genders in their responses to the questions regarding their actions to improve the environment, as well as their positive feeling about the actions they have undertaken. They also agreed on their reasons for not being involved in action to protect the environment. CONCLUSION

Despite the Thai government’s clear environmental policy and strong determination to provide environmental education to Thai people, it appears that the current methods employed to educate young people about the environment have not been particularly successful. Although the study revealed that the majority of students have positive attitudes towards the environment, their level of understanding is less satisfactory. Though the students appeared to be extremely concerned about the environmental problems facing Thailand and had a strong intention to get involved in activities to improve the environment, most of this energy has hitherto been limited to their own household. Most students felt that they lacked skills in environmental protection, and due to this perceived lack of skills and experience, they lacked the confidence to become involved in civic or political action. They indicated that they would like to learn more about the environment in school. Schools naturally should play a more important role in teaching these skills. In conclusion, environmental education in Thailand is not satisfactory and needs to be strengthened. The curriculum needs to be properly redesigned with environmental concepts integrated into many other subjects. Also it is necessary to ensure the continuity of environmental education at all levels in the curriculum and to encourage students to ‘learn by doing’ by teaching them to solve environmental problems. This knowledge can serve as a basis for tackling environmental problems, which will in turn lead to a better environment and sustainable development. REFERENCES Cummings, J. (1995). Thailand. Melbourne: Lonely Planet Publications. DEQP (1996). Master plan and operation plan for environmental education (1997-2001). Bangkok: Department of Environmental Quality Promotion. DEQP (1997). Environmental education handbook, Bangkok. Department of Environmental Quality Protection. Dreyer, J. (1996). The origin and development of environmental education. Pretoria: University of South Africa. Islam, I. and Chowdhury, A. (1997). Thailand. In Asia-Pacific Economies. London: Routledge, pp. 250263. MOE (1991). Master plan on environment education (1991-1996). Bangkok: Ministry of Education.

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National Economic and Social Development Board (1991). Summary of the seventh national economic and social development plan (1991-1996). Bangkok: Office of the Prime Minister. OEPP (1996). Report on the state of environment 1996. Bangkok: Office of Environmental Policy and Planning, Ministry of Science, Technology and Energy. OPM (1996). The eighth national economic and social development plan (1997-2001). Bangkok: Office of the Prime Minister. Suwannatachote, R. (1997). Setting priority for research and training in environment in southern Thailand. Paper presented at the UNESCO UNITWIN Program Workshop, AUAP-BU Conference Asian Education Summit, Tokyo. TDRI (1992). Thailand country report to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) June 1992. Bangkok: Thailand Development Research Institute. UNDP (1994). Background paper. Workshop on Environment and Natural Resources Management, UNDP Fifth Cycle Country Program for Thailand, January 29-30. Veeravatananond, V. and Sripanpong, B. (1996). Environmental education: Education for sustainable development. Bangkok: Songsiam Co. Wattanaseree, U. (1990). Factors related to environmental attitudes and achievements of students in Thailand. Final report to UNESCO, Khon Kan: Khon Kan University.

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M.J. RAVINDRANATH

6 INDIA

India is highly diverse in its physical, biological and cultural elements, characterised as it is by a multitude of climates, soil types, complex ecosystems, religions, languages and extremes of economic, technological and intellectual advancement. India’s geography includes the tropical forests of the South and the wetlands of the Bay of Bengal and ranges through the deserts of Rajastan, the temperate plateaux of the Deccan to the snow-clad Himalayas. India has representations of almost all types of ecosystems in the world. Its extraordinary biodiversity includes 45,000 species of plants, or about 12 per cent of the global plant wealth. India also has over 68,300 species of animals of which 60,000 are insects about 1,600 fish and 372 mammals, including 7.2 per cent of the world’s reptiles and 4.4 per cent of world’s amphibians. There is an abundance of marine life (seaweeds, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, corals, reptiles and mammals) and a wide range of domestic animals, including buffalo, goats, sheep, pigs, poultry, horses and camels. There is also a remarkable diversity of human cultures in India. INFLUENCES ON ATTITUDES TO THE ENVIRONMENT

Religion and Culture

Second in numbers only to China, and fast closing on first position, the people of are a complex mixture of various religions and racial strains and speak a record 1,652 languages. Over 80 per cent of the population follow the Hindu religion. But, India is also the home of Buddhism and many millions of people are Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and Jews.

65 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 65—77. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Above all, India has inherited a rich culture which has always revered the environment and its conservation. The following verse from Prithvi Sukta of Atharva Veda illustrates this: Malwan Bibhratee Gurubhrud Bhadrapapasya Nidhanam Titikshuhu Warahena Prithivi Samwidana Sookaraya Wi jiheete mrugaya.

The Earth endures people of all temperaments, good and bad, but the blessings of the Earth are derived by the one with nobility of mind, following the path of right conduct.

Despite being rich in terms of natural resources and tradition of conservation, like many other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, India faces many serious environmental problems. These range from air and water pollution, especially in the rapidly growing urban and industrial areas, forest clearing and biodiversity loss, soil erosion and falling water tables. Nearly a third of India’s rural lands is considered to be unproductive while the falling water tables are resulting in severe shortages of drinking water. Population

However, the biggest challenge facing the country is its population size. With an annual growth rate of 2.11 per cent, the population of India has already passed one billion and is not expected to stabilise until around 2060 when it will be 1.8 billion, almost double the present population. This escalation will put severe pressure on the country’s natural resources and life support systems, as well as bring down the per capita availability of land. It is estimated that over 230 million tons of food grains will be required to support this population compared with the present production of 150 million tons (Trivedi 1992). This problem is compounded when one considers the population of live stock to be supported with the available land. India has the world’s largest cattle population. The 406 million head of live stock need to be supported on less than 4 per cent of the total land classified as pasture. Yet, much of this has already been over-grazed and become wasteland. Rapid population growth affects both human standards of living and the environment. It puts pressure on the natural ecosystems, reducing bio-diversity and natural capital such as forests. As population numbers increase, other resources are also stretched leading to severe economic problems, especially in rural areas. This has resulted in large-scale migrations to urban areas in search of employment. The lack of housing, sanitation and safe water is a major concern. It is estimated that the population living in slums in Indian cities increased from 28 to 150 million between 1981 and 1991. According to Rao (1995), over 25 per cent of the urban population in the mega-cities of India have no access to safe drinking water, resulting in serious health problems.

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The Media and NGOs The legacies of colonial rule and post-independence development have impacted deeply on the social and environmental fabric of India. Nevertheless, a living tradition of environmental care in India remains. As a result, there is little doubt that the people of India are very concerned about the state of the environment. This may be seen in the coverage of environmental concerns in the media, the rise of environmental NGOs, and the results of surveys of environmental attitudes. The news media have played an important role in building public environmental awareness in India. This was enhanced by a direction of the Supreme Court of India that the media must disseminate environmental information in national and regional languages. As well as newspapers, television stations broadcast a wide range of programmes on environment aimed for many different audiences. India has more than 5000 environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Their activities include environmental awareness campaigns, regional and national workshops, training courses, political lobbying and mass action. Many NGOs have been successful in halting large-scale developmental projects through local and national campaigns to safeguard the environment. These include the Chipko Andholan, Silent Valley, Narmada Sarovar, Save Western Ghats and Save Nilgiri Biosphere movements. Contemporary Attitudes India participated in the Gallup International Institute’s Health of the Planet Survey (1992). In this survey, 21 per cent of the Indian respondents rated environmental problems as the most important in their country (compared with a range of 1 per cent in Poland to 39 per cent in Ireland and the Netherlands); 77 per cent expressed ‘a fair amount’ or ‘a great deal’ of personal concern about such problems (compared with a range of 40% in Turkey to 94% in the Philippines). When asked about the effect of environmental problems on their health ten years ago compared with the likely effect on their children and grandchildren over the next 25 years, the Indian respondents moved from being in the middle range of concern (effects on health ten years ago) to amongst the highest in terms of their concern about future effects. This indicates a strong perception of future environmental decline. The Indian respondents ranked air and water pollution as the two most important environmental problems facing their country. These were also the top two concerns in almost all other countries in the Gallup survey. However, where other countries rated waste management and the loss of natural resources in the next band of concern, population pressure on the environment was ranked third in India. Indeed, 45 per cent of the Indian respondents rated ‘too many people’ as a ‘very serious’ problem, compared with a range of 1 per cent in Denmark and 5 per cent in Japan to 38 per cent in Turkey, the next highest score to that of India. Contemporary environmental thinking in India reveals that the proenvironmental aspects of traditional Indian culture are seen as relevant to the modern world and have been contextualised to take account of social, economic and political

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realities. For example, Vandana Shiva (1989) has argued for alternative models of development based on agrarian ideals that are not too distant from those of Gandhi in his vision of a village-centred India. She has linked these ideals with Prakriti, the life-giving force associated with women in Hindu religion, and called for this feminine relationship with nature to become the basis for a sustainable mode of development. Other Indian scholars, such as Visvanathan (1990) and Nandy (1988), have also criticised the development model followed by the West and by India in the post-Independence period. The respect for the environment that underlies these views have led to a growing awareness in India that it is only through education that people can become motivated to act for the environment. Thus, efforts have been undertaken to: Introduce environmental education at all levels of education; Augment the impacts of education with economic, social, political, religious and legal, policies; and Develop strategies of education and communication for the general public leading to action. Environmental Education

Recognising the potential of education in environmental conservation, several efforts have been made to introduce environmental education at all the levels of education. Environmental education is an explicit focus of the National Policy on Education (1986) and central and state school boards have revised their syllabuses to infuse environmental perspectives. At the lower primary stage, environmental education is introduced as Environmental Studies (EVS) and links natural and social science disciplines. At the upper primary and secondary stages, environmental education is infused in the teaching of physics, chemistry, biology and other subjects such as civics, geography, languages, etc. These efforts have been coupled with intensified teacher education both at the in-service and pre-service levels. In the last few years, environmental education has also become the focus of research at the post-graduate level. The Indian Study

The study of youth environmental attitudes in India was conducted in the city of Bangalore in 1996. Bangalore is a fast growing metropolitan city in south India with a population of slightly over 5 million. Several multinational and hi-tech industries are located in the city which has been regarded as the ‘electronic’ or ‘silicon’ city of India. This rapid industrialisation has lead to increased urbanisation and the seemingly uncontrolled migration of people from neighbouring states, cities and towns. This has resulted in a host of environmental and social problems, including perennial shortages of water and electricity, congestion, vehicular pollution and lack of basic amenities. Bangaloreans are facing innumerable health problems from air, water and noise pollution with children becoming increasingly susceptible to allergies (asthma and bronchitis. The degrading environment has made living in the

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city intolerable and it is in this backdrop that Bangalore finds its significance as a study area. The study was carried out during December 1996 by selecting 10 high performing schools in the city - schools recording a high percentage of success in their final school leaving examination (10th standard). The sample consisted of a total of 617 students (327 boys and 290 girls) drawn from 3 boys, 3 girls and 4 coeducational schools. All 617 students responded to the questionnaire while 90 students (6 to 8 students from each of the 10 schools) participated in the focus group interviews. Awareness of Social Issues and Levels of Concern

When the students were asked during the focus group interviews to express their hopes and fears for future, they expressed a strong hope that India has not lost all the environment it has despite the onslaught on it in the last few decades. India’s environment is still rich in terms of its natural resources and if it is properly planned and managed, there is every possibility that India’s environment will improve. Students believed that heightened environmental understanding can make people more concerned for conservation. Referring to the reverence for the environment in Indian culture, the students suggested that we should ‘go back to our roots’ searching for and adopting sustainable lifestyles and environment-friendly behaviours. While the students were quite optimistic about saving India’s environment, they were concerned India will be on the brink of environmental disaster with the country being faced with insurmountable environmental problems if the present rate of environmental degradation continues. Their statements included: At this rate of environmental destruction, we ourselves may not exist in future. I fear a total destruction of environment. Our top soil is getting eroded year by year. This affects our agriculture. We may be without food crops in future. I fear genetic disorders due to excessive radiation in the environment. I fear excessive smog, acid rain and global warming.

The students viewed overpopulation and deforestation as the two major environmental issues facing the country, followed by household rubbish and air pollution as shown in Table 6.1. The students believed that poverty, illiteracy and lack of political will and leadership were the major causes of these problems.

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The students viewed the destruction of ozone layer (28%), population (12%) and the greenhouse effect (10%) as the major environmental threats of the world followed by air pollution, deforestation and increasing urbanisation. While there was concern for the national and global environment, there was greater concern for the deterioration of Bangalore’s environment. These local concerns centered on the city’s increasing air pollution, over-crowding and congestion, garbage, lack of initiatives from the government and the public. Environmental Awareness and Knowledge The students’ understanding of the term ‘environment’ was quite comprehensive, with less than 15 per cent defining it narrowly from physical or biological perspectives only. During the focus group interviews, students regularly used the term ‘Environment’ in conjunction with ‘Mother Nature’, however. They expressed a strong view that people cannot control nature only try to understand it and live harmoniously with all other living organisms. Indeed, more than 70 per cent of the students endorsed the view that Earth is like a space ship with limited room and resources and that the balance of nature should be maintained at all times. In terms of knowledge of environmental concepts, Table 6.2 indicates that students were most familiar with the concepts of carbon cycle, natural resources, ecology, interdependence, greenhouse effect and ozone layer.

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Table 6.2 also shows that these were the concepts discussed in the class. This reflects the revision of courses and textbooks in accordance with the thrust given to environmental education in the National Policy on Education (1986) and the directive of the Supreme Court of India in 1992 to all the central and state departments of education to infuse environmental perspectives at all levels of education. Table 6.3 shows the percentage of students able to correctly explain the meaning of the concepts mutually discussed in class. The concepts which most students had not heard of were: precautionary principle, intergenerational equity, carrying capacity and sustainable development.

When the students were asked to explain the causes of the environmental problems, a significant majority (more than 60%) attributed it to human selfishness and greed. The other reasons cited were: poverty, corruption, lack of political will and leadership and urbanisation and industrialisation. They also expressed a strong concern about the country’s growing population and its impact on the consumption of natural resources.

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While the students expressed hope in the proper use of science and technology for mitigating some of the environmental problems, they were much more apprehensive about its adverse use leading to more environmental problems than solving them. It was quite unfortunate to notice that the youth did not express any faith in political parties nor in their professed election mandates for improving the quality of the environment. Table 6.4 shows that students see school, newspaper/magazines, television and family as their major sources of environmental information, with school being rated as more than 70 per cent. International agencies and friends were also sources of environmental information. Table 6.5 shows that these sources were also perceived as most credible. Environmental Beliefs When Indian students were asked whether they believed that India should ‘concentrate on economic development even if it meant some damage to the environment’ or ‘concentrate on protecting the environment even if it meant some reduction in economic growth’, a large majority chose protecting the environment. The responses are shown in Table .6.6

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More than 85 per cent of the students believed that it is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. Their contention was that development need not be at the expense of environment or vice versa. They perceived protection of environment as an important national priority that India has to seriously consider even if it means some reduction economic growth. They also believed more in individual and collective action than pitting hope in government for the protection of the environment. Environmental Actions When asked to indicate their willingness to participate in environmental activities, an overwhelming majority of students (more than 90 per cent) responded affirmatively, with slightly more than 40 per cent indicating a very high readiness (see Table 6.7). It is interesting to observe that these students also rated highly their levels of knowledge and skills for involvement (see Table 6.8).

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Although students showed a great desire to participate in environmental actions, it can be seen from Table 6.9 that very few had actually undertaken any environmentally positive actions. However, tree planting, recycling or re-using things, gathering environment related information and helping others change a practice were mentioned. However, a majority indicated that they would like to take up environmental actions in the future. These actions included: Choosing a household product better for the environment; Gifting or donating to an environmental group; Taking part in a clean up campaign; Writing a letter or signing a campaign; and Reporting an environmental event.

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When asked about their reasons for not taking many environmental actions in the past, ‘there is no practical alternative’ was the most common answer (72 %). The students also said that they thought that their actions did not matter (67 %) as there was little supportfrom the public or the government in providing practical alternatives. Only 33 per cent said that they ‘don’t have time’ as they are studying for the final school leaving examination and would take up a major role in environmental conservation after getting into universities or professional courses. Education

On the question of how often they discussed environmental issues in and outside the class, more than 70 per cent of the students said they did this often or regularly. The topics discussed at home, the following are a few more frequently discussed topics (see Table 6.10). When asked about their desire to discuss environmental issues in the class, nearly 80 per cent of students (see Table 6.11) indicated that they wish to discuss environmental issues often and regularly in the class.

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CONCLUSION

Environmental education as an important focus area in schools has always aimed at developing requisite awareness, knowledge, attitudes and values in students and encouraging them to take an active role in the resolution of environmental problems. Since giving environmental education special attention in the National Policy on Education (NPE,1986) and the directive of the Supreme Court of India (1992) to all the state departments of education to infuse environmental concepts, concerted efforts have been made in the country, both at the central and state levels, to reorganise the contents and methodologies of teaching in schools to integrate and infuse environmental perspectives. The present study, though limited in its scope, reveals that infusion of environmental concepts in school curriculum has to some extent helped children become aware of some of the environmental problems or issues of the country; a few of the basic concepts in understanding environment; sources of environmental information; and the possible actions one can undertake to protect the environment. It is encouraging to note from the study that school students in India recognise protection of environment as a national priority ahead of development. Through their attitudes and willingness to take environmental action, they have demonstrated that they could be effectively trained to protect and conserve the environment. This needs to be supported with sincere commitment from the public and the government. REFERENCES Nandy, A. (ed.) (1988). Science, hegemony and violence: A requiem for modernity. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

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Rao, U. R. (1995). Science and technology as an instrument of socio-economic change, unpublished lecture at Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, Bangalore, November. Shiva, V. (1989). Staying alive: Women, ecology and development. London: Zed. Visvanathan, S. (1990). Mrs Brundtland’s disenchanted cosmos. Alternatives, 16, 3: 377–84.

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LILY KONG AND YEE SZE ONN

7 SINGAPORE

From various accounts, the state of Singapore’s environment (see, for example, Cheng, 1988; Savage and Kong, 1993; Savage, Yeoh, Huang and Kong, 1994; Hui, 1995), since independence in 1965, has been characterised by change, distinguished today by a condition of overall positive assessment. This state is the result of significant government action, with specific government ministries and statutory boards charged with the responsibility of changing and protecting the environment to achieve political visions. While government action has been critical in effecting environmental change in Singapore, environmental behaviour must clearly be rooted in environmentally friendly values and attitudes among the people in the long term. When a Ministry of Environment official uttered the thought that ‘if people cannot be persuaded by education, you’ll have to reach them where it hurts them the most – their wallets’ (The Straits Times, 1991, p. 23), warning signals should be raised regarding environmental attitudes among Singaporeans. There is thus no more pressing concern than to examine such attitudes among young people who form the next generation of leaders and actors in society and to examine questions of how attitudes may be shaped. THE SINGAPORE STUDY

This report is based on a questionnaire survey administered to 1,603 students between the ages of 15 and 16 in 1996. These students were randomly selected from eight secondary schools among the top in the country. In addition, eight randomly selected groups, involving a total of about 80 students from these same schools, were involved in focus group discussions. Each group was convened once, and the discussions lasted between 40 and 60 minutes. Awareness of Social Issues and Levels of Concern

Students said that the four most important goals for Singapore were protecting the environment (74%), creating a fairer, more humane society (70%), building a cohesive nation (49%) and strengthening the economy (48%). 79 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 79—92. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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While there appears to be acknowledgment of a need to protect the environment, this, as will become evident later, does not always translate into a strong willingness to act for the environment. Respondents were of the view that the top three environmental issues facing Singapore were household rubbish and garbage (35%), air pollution (12%); and traffic congestion (16%). Beyond these three issues, there was a significant drop in the numbers of respondents who cited other problems. These reflect a focus on issues that directly impact on their lives. This becomes evident when we examine what were considered to be the top four environmental issues facing the world versus those that were felt to confront Singapore (Table 7.1). The three most important environmental issues facing the world cited by the respondents were destruction of the ozone layer (55%), cutting down of forests (17%) and the greenhouse effect (8%).

Environmental Knowledge

Defining Environment The definition of environment was varied, from things that are related to nature, such as flora and fauna, to physical surroundings that are human-made, like buildings, factories and so forth. There were also those who defined environment in social terms, for example, ‘the school environment,’ ‘neighbourhood,’ and ‘community’. In brief, the young people summarised the environment as anything and everything, both living and non-living. In the young peoples’ definition of what the environment was, some of them spoke about the interaction between humans and environment. The responsibility for and concern about the future of the environment was also noted: The environment from my point of view means the world around us, whether it is in the city, in the countryside or the oceans, which we have a responsibility to take care of so that our children and the inhabitants of the earth would have some place to live. (16 year old boy)

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Knowledge of Environmental Concepts The survey explored students’ knowledge of a number of fundamental environmental and scientific concepts. More than 50 per cent of the students have heard of these concepts – interdependence, ecology, renewable resources, the ozone layer and greenhouse effect. Concepts which were least heard of by the students were the precautionary principle, intergenerational equity and sustainable development (Table 7.2).

Students’ knowledge of environmental concepts was generally high (Table 7.3). Out of the ten concepts tested, close to 80 per cent of the students managed to answer six or more out of the ten questions correctly. Students were able to select the correct answers particularly for the concepts that were discussed most in school. The concepts that a large number of students answered incorrectly were: Sustainable development: While 23 per cent of the students defined sustainable development as development we can sustain without damaging or overheating the economy, almost half of the students – 47 per cent were not sure of the definition (Table 7.3). Only 19 per cent of them managed to define it as development which meets the needs of the people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Perhaps the inability among students to identify the correct answer was due to the fact that only 10 per cent of them said that this concept had ever been discussed in school. Carrying capacity: Only 22 per cent of the students chose the correct answer. This corresponded closely to the proportion of students who said that this concept had been discussed in school before (25%). Causes of Environmental Problems Young people identified human beings as the main cause of environmental degradation. Human beings lack responsibility, have a selfish mentality, are lazy and

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greedy and therefore contributed to the existing problems. They believed that if people were less self-centred, these problems could be minimised. These negative attitudes were in turn related to the modernisation of society, and the jobs that industrialisation created. For example, the following views were expressed: The major cause is the lifestyle and attitude of people. Many want to enjoy life and have the best goods, clothes, services etc. They do this without any care or concern for the environment. People think that their generation is not affected by environmental problems, as such they can do what they like to the environment. (16 year old boy) Problems are mostly caused by humans. They are usually unaware that their actions are harmful to the environment. Some others do know that their actions are harmful to the environment, but are too lazy to go out of their way to avoid them. Also, they may think that just a little more of such actions won’t do much to cause damage to the environment. (15 year old girl)

The blame was, however, not to be evenly apportioned, in student’s views. The older generation was predominantly thought to subscribe to less environmentally friendly attitudes. Different groups of people could also have differential impacts on harming and improving the environment. One participant, for example, believed that if consumers were to demand more ‘green’ products, the industries/businesses would then provide them. The lack of consumers’ demands for more environmentally friendly products is then seen as a cause of environmental problems. Another pointed out that economic inequality was a cause of environmental problems. There is higher propensity for the poor to exploit nature in order to survive. For example, landless farmers will encroach on forested areas for farming land. Many of the young people also saw that the government played an important role in ameliorating environmental problems. The example of Singapore is cited: Problems are less serious in Singapore, because the government encourages a green city and activities like tree-planting day. (16 year old boy)

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Sources of Information While all the students said they received some information from all the listed sources, they obtained most information from newspapers and magazines (57%), school (53%) and television (47%). Conversely, 78 per cent obtained no information from business and 35 per cent obtained no information from non-governmental environmental organizations. From the listed sources of information, students were asked to indicate how reliable they perceive these sources to be. Four that stood out as more reliable than the rest were schools (88%), newspapers and magazines (88.0%), government environmental bodies (82%) and television (81%) provided very reliable/reliable information. Young people said that their main sources of information about the environment came via the mass media, television documentary shows, magazines like National Geographic and Discover, newspapers, books and information and from teachers and classes in school (eg geography lessons). They believed that it is inadequate to receive information from just one source and many of them relied on various sources, as information about the environment could currently be obtained from almost anywhere, depending on how the term ‘environment’ is defined. I think probably nowadays what we learn about the environment you can learn from almost anywhere because now they call this a green decade. So you get milk cartons, you get recycling, then you get posters – Save the Trees. So besides the media, books, you have the word of mouth. Probably just everywhere you can see a poster, save the trees, all that kind of thing, so that is where I think we would learn more about the environment. (16 year old girl)

They also felt an important way to learn about the environment is through personally experiencing it, for example, going on a field trip. However, there are limited venues for them to do so in Singapore, as it is a city-state, with very few natural areas. Because of this, most of them rely on other sources of information rather than relate what they know about the environment with their own personal experiences. The issue of adequacy and reliability of information was also discussed. Few were critical of what they read in the newspapers, or information obtained from other sources: I’ve found out about the environment through daily newspapers, television, books and conversation with family members and friends. I trust information from newspaper and television … because the information is very up-to-date and millions of people in the region also receive the same news. It is a satisfactory way of finding out information, but it would be better if I can get first-hand experience occasionally. (16 year old boy)

Among the students in the focus groups, only two were critical of what they read or watched on television: Most of the information comes from studies from school. Teachers often teach us about the environment and how we can play a helping hand in protecting it. The information from school is accurate and up-to-date and so worth believing. Another source is the media. However, documentaries on television may not tell the whole truth about the situation of the environment in a particular place or country due to social or political reasons. (16 year old boy)

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LILY KONG AND YEE SZE ONN I read widely, through science magazines, newspapers, books concerned about the environment and talks given by people. I take all sources of information with a pinch of salt as the environment is a big topic and views may be skewed, accidentally or purposely, to make something or somebody look good or bad, (16 year old boy)

Environmental Beliefs The majority of respondents felt that Singapore should concentrate on protecting the environment even if it meant some reduction in economic growth (Table 7.4). While 56 per cent of the respondents believed that environmental protection should be given priority over economic growth, about three-quarters of the respondents also believed that it is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment.

In the questionnaire, 12 sets of opposing views, one placed on the left and the other placed on the right were given. Students were asked to place their views along a 1-5 scale, where 1 meant they strongly agreed with the statement on the left, 3 meant their views were evenly balanced between the two statements, and 5 meant that they strongly agreed with the statement on the right. From these 12 pairs of statements, the responses recorded were converted to the scores indicated in Table 7.5. Negative scores suggest a less environmentally friendly attitude, while positive scores suggested a more environmentally friendly attitude. On this basis, students displayed strong environmental beliefs.

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The results of the precise beliefs pertaining to the environment are tabulated in Table 7.8. Environmental Actions

Most of the respondents have a moderate (36%) to strong (44%) interest in being involved in improving the environment (Table 7.6). Very few students rated their desire to be involved as weak or very weak.

When students were asked to rate their skills and knowledge in order to bring about environmental improvements even if it is only in a small way, 60 per cent of them rated their skills as medium (Table 7.7).

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In order to gauge the respondents’ commitment to the environment, it was necessary to distinguish what actions they would consider taking (stated commitment) and what they have actually done (actual commitment). While a moderately large proportion of the students said that they would consider doing all the action items listed, not many of them have been actively involved in doing so (Table 7.9). Some of the more popular actions that have been taken in the last 12 months include: Deciding to re-use or recycle something instead of throwing it away (75%) Choosing household products that are better for the environment (65%) Making an effort to reduce water consumption (60%) The proportion of students who said that they would not consider taking such action as writing a letter, signing a petition or attending a meeting with the aim of improving the environment was considerable (34%). This was followed by an unwillingness to make a report or complaint about something that was bad for the environment (27%), followed closely by taking part in a tree-planting scheme (25%). Students appear to be more willing to engage in environmentally friendly activities which constitute part of their daily routine than something which requires effort out of the ordinary.

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Students sometimes also engage in actions that are bad from an environmental point of view or do not engage in environmentally friendly action (see Table 7.10). The four most frequent reasons students gave were: I feel there is no practical alternative (19%); I don’t think my actions will make much difference (16%); It’s more convenient/more comfortable not to be worrying about things like the environment (14%); and I don’t have time (12%).

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Education

The frequency with which students discussed environmental issues with friends or family outside of classes was generally low (Table 7.11). The majority of them (62%) stated that they discussed environmental issues only several times a year. Only 3 per cent discussed issues regularly (at least once a week).

A high proportion of the students felt that environmental issues should be taught several times a year (42%) in class. A further 39 per cent thought that they should be taught at least once a month in school. Only 2.6 per cent thought they should not be taught at all.

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Several major themes can be identified from the survey and the interviews. The Environment Versus the Economy: For most students, environmental protection is listed as the most important item on the list of goals for Singapore to achieve. The majority of students also felt that protecting the environment should take precedence over the economy. This indicates a strong concern for the environment among students. Concern about the Environment: Students identified the ‘most important issues facing Singapore’ as significantly different from those that they identified as ‘most important environmental issues facing the world’ in the survey. However, in the interviews conducted, most students cited the same kind of issues they had earlier identified in the survey. These concerns are global warming/greenhouse effect, deforestation and overpopulation. This perhaps suggests that students tend to think that environmental problems are usually external problems and they do no usually happen in their own country. They become of concern only when they are seen to impact on Singapore directly. It points to the possibility that some students think that environmental problems are more global than local. In the interviews conducted, students also identified other concerns related to the degradation of the environment. These are lack of awareness and the need for changes in attitude among people. These imply that students have a certain level of maturity in their understanding of the issues, recognising some of the root problems related to environmental degradation. However, none of them reported that social and political factors might have an influence on certain environmental issues and the reasons for environment-related problems exist. However, even though students were aware of the existing environmental problems and could identify humans to be the most important threat to the environment, they did not display strong personal commitment to improving the environment (see later discussion on commitment and involvement.) Awareness and Knowledge: In general, students could define what the environment was, giving a myriad of explanations from physical to social. Awareness of environmental concepts was found to be quite high among the students. Knowledge of concepts was also quite high. Commitment and Involvement: While students unanimously agreed that there are currently inadequate efforts to improve the environment, their personal involvement in environmentally friendly actions is found to be moderate in some areas and almost non-existent in others. Most of the students also rated their personal skills and knowledge to improve the environment as medium. Given the earlier findings that the percentage of students who were aware of and have good knowledge of environmental concepts were high, the correlation between ‘book’ knowledge and practice (as well as practical knowledge) appears to be negative. Most of the actions that students said they have actively taken to protect the environment involved household behaviour such as recycling or reusing certain materials such as papers, bottles and newspapers, and reducing water and electricity consumption. These were also the answers students cited most when they were asked to think about what they

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could possibly do to protect the environment. None of the students gave more creative ideas and, with the exception of two students who suggested that consumer behaviour could influence business behaviour, none of them suggested any other actions that were more ‘activist’-oriented and which appeared to address root causes. To make up for their own marginal efforts, students felt that the government had to take the lead in improving the environment. The government could either offer incentives (such as fiscal ones) or force these changes down peoples’ throats (legal actions), if the general public was to change its behaviour. However, there were those who were uncertain if laws would make any long-term difference. One of them suggested that perhaps re-educating ‘offenders’ might be a better solution. The students all agreed that public awareness programmes were the key to promoting changes even if environmental laws existed. There is a general sense that the students are not prepared to make any behavioural changes or to take the lead in doing so even though they are aware of environmental problems and have good knowledge of environmental concepts. Peer pressure is also identified to be an important their behaviour, and unfortunately, environmentally friendly actions are not considered to be a norm that teenagers want to replicate and emulate. Pressure to conform, in this instance, results in a lack of motivation to act in environmentally friendly ways. The challenge then lies in how to translate what the students know into actions, and how to motivate them to have a deeper sense of commitment to the environment. This study therefore supports Savage and Lau’s (1993) finding that the commitment level of students to environmental activities was greater with passive or indirect action, rather than active or direct participation. Sources and Reliability of Information: All except two students were not critical of the information they receive, especially if the information was given to them by their teachers or obtained through the mass media. These two sources, teachers and the mass media, were said to be where most information was obtained by the students. In the survey, although a small proportion of the students identified nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and government environmental bodies as sources of information, during the interviews none of them brought up these two bodies as sources of information at all. The near non-existence of NGOs that provide global government education in Singapore probably best explains why they were not mentioned to be a source for the students to obtain information about the environment. Implications for Environmental Education in Singapore From this study, it is found that even though students in Singapore possessed a relatively high level of knowledge on the environment, the form of knowledge they received from schools or mass media is ‘book’ knowledge. What is lacking in the students is the kind of practical knowledge that can transcend what they know into actions – ie the different kind of things they can possible do other than recycling to help preserve the environment; and activities that are related to local civic tasks or actions, in which a certain level of socio-political consciousness is needed. The lack

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of discussion about social justice issues in the school system and in general in society may possible explain this phenomenon. In light of this, environmental education in Singapore has been successful in terms of providing the factual knowledge to students, but it lacks tremendously in providing impetus for students to actively participate in the preventative measures of environmental degradation, either at a personal level or at a societal level. This calls for a more holistic approach to environmental education in the school system. As reported earlier in the focus group interviews, the inability of students to change their consumption behaviour after a recycling project/competition in one of the schools interviewed raises questions about the way the project/competition was structured and organised. Perhaps if the students organised it rather than the teacher, or if the students were made to research the impacts of recycling or other related issues, the students may have been more inclined to actively participate in the project. Thus, the learning by doing method, or active participation approach, is needed to instil a sense of responsibility for the environment among the students. Environmental education in schools cannot be seen as the responsibility of teachers only, because teachers have limited resources. As such, external agencies such as NGOs play a significant role in providing additional environmental education programs which are more practice-oriented. Unfortunately in Singapore, there are few NGOs that focus on environmental issues and none which specifically target environmental education, particularly for younger people. More need to be done to ‘democratise’ the arenas of environmental agenda setting (Kong, 1994) and environmental education. The findings of this study are instrumental in ascertaining how much the young people of Singapore know about the environment, the level of responsibility they have for the environment and the reasons young people are uninvolved in environment related activities. Future environmental education should take these findings into account in the planning and implementation of programmes and projects that would involve more action-oriented activities. This will perhaps help bridge the gap between knowledge and practice. REFERENCES Cheng, L.K. (1988). Ubanization and ecodevelopment in Singapore. Iin Hills, P. and Whitney, J. (eds) Environmental quality in Asian cities. University of Hong Kong/University of Toronto/IFIAS, 92112. Hui, J. (1995). Environmental policy and green planning. In Ooi G. L. (ed.) Environment and the city. Singapore, 13-46. Kong, L. (1994). Environment as a social concern: Democratizing public arenas in Singapore?. Sojourn, 9, 277-287. Savage, V.R., Yeoh, B., Huang, S. and Kong, L. (1994). Singapore report on socio-ecconomic issues relating to global environmental change. Paper presented at Regional Workshop on the Socioeconomic Research Agenda for Global Change, 9-11 December, Chulalongkorn University. Savage, V. R. and Kong, L. (1993). Urban constraints, political imperatives: Environmental ‘design’ in Singapore. Landscape and Urban Planning, 25, 37-52. Savage, V. R. and Lau, S. (1993). Green issues: Official policies and student awareness. In Briffett, C. and Sim, L. L. (eds) Proceedings: Environmental issues in development and conservation. Singapore, 13-28. The Straits Times, 23 March 1991.

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8 BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

During the recent haze occurrences in 1997 and 1998, Brunei’s Muslims were called upon to fast for two days before performing mass prayers held in mosques throughout the country to seek divine assistance. Intriguingly, their prayers seemed to be answered the next day when heavy downpours of rain erased the haze from the atmosphere. The majority of people in Brunei are Muslims, and are guided by Islamic ethics. In Islam, humans are a distinct part of nature and have a special position among other parts of nature, living and non-living; however, the relationship to nature is not mastery but stewardship so that nature should be looked after (Subbarini, 1993). Moreover, Islamic environmental ethics are based on a clear-cut legal foundation, which Muslims hold to be formulated by God (Deen, 1996) and to which they are obliged to obey. In addition, Brunei Malay traditions, superstitions and taboos practised to encourage good behaviour have indirectly benefited the environment. For example, the belief that the trees have guardian spirits and are invested with supernatural powers resulted in trees and jungle not being cut or cleared at will. Hence to this day, much of the forest in Brunei remains virgin jungle. However, with the advent and rapid acceptance of western education in recent times, Bruneians may change. Further, Bruneians’ affluent status may have affected the traditional Brunei Malay society as well as contributing to a state of complacency. Activities such as the gotong royong (community get together) to regularly clean up commons are occurring less frequently in recent times (Ibrahim, 1994).

INFLUENCES ON ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES IN BRUNEI

Development and the Environment in Brunei

Approximately two thirds of the population of over 300,000 people live in the 3 towns and the capital city along the coast. Brunei has a higher rate of population 93 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 93—101. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers, Printed in the Netherlands.

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growth than many other countries in the region with a natural increase rate of 21 per 1,000 (Brunei-Government, 1996). Education indicators show improving literacy rates from 69 per cent in 1971 to 89 pere cent in 1991 and an increasing number of schools from 193 in 1990 to 224 in 1996. Many young Bruneians obtain their bachelor and further education degrees overseas or locally. A small number of indigenous people live off the tropical rainforest. The influence of modernisation and development has not reached some of the indigenous people such as Kedayans and Penans (Maxwell, 1980), (Kaloko, 1997) while others such as the Dusuns (Antaran, 1993) and Iban have adapted to modern living conditions (Global-Network-Ltd., 1987). The Government is fully committed to improving the environment. This is evident from the environmental objectives found in the last three national development plans (1986-2000). Major environment improvement activities include the establishment of a National Council of Environment, designation of heritage areas, the conducting of environment training programmes for teachers and personnel, acceding to various international environment agreements, convention and protocols. However, individual departments and ministries pursue their own mandate and vision instead of collective actions of the Government as a whole. Therefore, infrastructures for human, technical and scientific resources are needed to be built up to integrate economic development with environmental protection for a sustainable environment (Prabhu, 1996). State of the Environment

The growth of population and the use of natural resources have imposed stress on the environment, particularly on the fragile coastal ecosystem. These environmental problems are more a result of affluence rather than poverty. For example, the construction industry has been responsible for the destruction of vegetation, soil erosion and siltation of streams and the increase in vehicles has resulted in traffic congestion, noise and air pollution (Eaton, 1994). Major local environmental problems include water quality and population growth with a trend towards urbanisation, a lack of environmental education and awareness, a lack of institutional mechanisms for co-ordination of environmental concerns, resource use and conservation, as well as the solid waste problem. Aside from implementing remedial and preventative measures, the government has attempted to alleviate these local environmental problems by encouraging responsible environmental action in the form of environmental camps, clean up campaigns, beautifying school compounds, planting trees, recycling campaigns, composting, debates, forums and quizzes. Despite these activities, long-term environmental attitude changes do not seem to have come about. Legislation for the protection of the environment in Brunei needs to be adequate and enforceable. For example, the Kampong Air (Water Village), a community built on stilts over the Brunei River, has been occupied for at least five centuries and in 1981, 2,826 dwellings housed 27,125 people. The prosecution of persons who

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discharge domestic waste in this village which is not served by sewerage facilities could not be enforced (Prabhu, 1996). Environmental Information

Quality environment-related information in the country is predominantly limited to local news, though broader information is available through the Internet, which has been available in Brunei since the 1990s. More critical letters in the newspapers, particularly after a spate of haze incidents between 1997 and 1999, have resulted in people being able to voice their environmental concerns more. Matters of more personal and confidential nature are dealt with in an unusual and unique way in Brunei. The Sultan receives letters of petition or pleas from individuals who have not been successful in having their concerns addressed adequately elsewhere in Brunei (Tyler, 1997). Environmental Education

Curriculum development is centralised in the Brunei school system with levels up to pre-university being influenced by British-based examinations. The Malay Islamic Beraja (monarchy) philosophy, which is woven into the locally produced school curriculum (Kindergarten to Year 9), emphasises the importance of positive values, spiritual awareness and a sense of loyalty. Environmental issues are contained in the science and geography syllabi (Years 10-11) produced by the Cambridge Examination Board. Strong interest in incorporating environmental education is evidenced by the inclusion of environmental topics in the lower secondary science syllabuses in 1998. However, changes in the curriculum have not yet been accompanied by changes in policies for teaching and learning, examination practices and an emphasis on environmental values (Permanent Secretary, 1996) or funding for resources and training needed for environmental education (Baines, 1996). Teachers are trained in the local university to pursue courses that include environmental issues but not all students have this opportunity. Since 1988, efforts have been made in teacher training for environment education in Brunei by overseas organisations such as the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), as well as government and non-governmental organisations. However provisions and teacher support for learning in, about and for the environment are limited. Environmental education tends to be left to the keen teachers to conduct or for the extra curricular and co-curricular activities. THE BRUNEI STUDY

The data from the questionnaire was collected in 1998 from 421 students (38 per cent males and 62 per cent females; 46 per cent were 16 year olds). The students involved were Year 11 students from 5 of the best performing schools in the country (a mixture of government and private, single and coeducational, urban and rural

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schools) and represent about 10 per cent of the Year 11 population of the country. The focus group interviews were conducted with smaller groups of the same students, totalling 54 students. Concern about Personal, Social and Environmental Issues The concerns of the Bruneian young people included a mixture of personal, social and environmental issues. Their hope and fears for the future fell into two categories, individual concerns (such as financial, employment, personal achievements and fulfilment) and non-individual concerns (such as resource depletion, environmental deterioration and human survival). When asked in the questionnaire, they indicated strong concerns for ‘protecting the environment’ (31%), ‘improving education standards’ (19%), ‘preventing wars and nuclear threats’ (16%) as well as ‘strengthening the economy’(16%). ‘Household rubbish and garbage’ is rated as the most important local environmental issue and ‘destruction of the ozone layer’ as the most important global environmental issue by the majority of the Bruneian young people (Table 8.1). The interviews suggested that some of the young peoples’ environmental concerns included war, population increase and survival (‘human race might disappear in war and too much pollution’, ‘nuclear war’) as well as global and local concerns.

Environmental Awareness and Knowledge Bruneian young people expressed that the word ‘environment’ could be categorised into categories of living things, non-living things, surroundings or habitat, interaction between people and other living things. Generally, although they were confident of their familiarity (mean 7.5, S.D. 1.94) of the environmental concepts,

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their knowledge was much lower (mean 4.9, S.D. 2.43) (Table 8.2). The five concepts that most Bruneian students felt they were aware of were the ozone layer, greenhouse effect, renewable resources, carbon cycle and ecology. However, the concepts more correctly defined were bio-diversity, greenhouse effect and carbon cycle and the least correctly defined concepts were sustainable development, precautionary principle and ozone layer.

The mean score for the young people’s environmental knowledge was 5.8 out of a maximum of 11. A large number of the students defined 4 to 7 environmental concepts correctly (Table 8.3).

From the focus group interviews that solicited students’ thinking about the causes of environmental problems, in general students’ responses were categorised into these areas: Attributes of human beings - ‘greedy and selfish many ways’, ‘I don’t care attitude’, ‘why should I be cleaning up his rubbish?, If they know they are not going to be fined then they are not going to do it - attitude’; Their country’s development needs - ‘countries who try to develop faster’; The structure of the government - ‘should be more strict to enforce laws and fines’: and The society, economic and other systems - ‘construction sites, it is easier to get rid of rubbish by burning’.

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The students’ major sources of environmental information appeared to be television (61%), newspapers and magazines (49%) and school (46%) (Table 8.4). The most trusted source of information is the television (51%).

In the interviews, the students confirmed that their most common source of environment information was the television, which they also considered to be the most reliable source of information, ‘depending on where it is coming from’. The dependence and trust in the media by the students reflects badly on schools and brings into question the role of schools in environmental education. Environmental Beliefs

The majority of the students (60%) believe in protecting the environment even if there is a reduction in economic growth. Furthermore, a larger majority of students (84%) believe it is possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. This pro-environmental belief was reinforced by the fact that the majority of students expressed an environmental belief or a strong environmental belief (Table 8.5).

In the interviews, when asked how environmental problems made them feel, many expressed their feelings in terms of:

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Anger or disappointment - ‘angry that something wasn’t done earlier to prevent it from getting so out of hand’, ‘upset and disappointed at how the government is treating the environment problems’; Helplessness - ‘don’t have the authority to get everyone’s attention to solve the problem’, ‘not comfortable as I do not know what I am drinking or eating’; Guilt - ‘we might have contributed to the problem too’, Fear and concern - ‘scared’, ‘worry about the children’; Wanting to act - ‘our race is actually destroying our own world and we should be the ones to save it for ourselves and others’, ‘(seeing the) orangutan crying makes me feel I need to do ‘something’; and Wanting to run away - ‘not worth living if the future is going to be that bleak’. Environmental Actions A high percentage of Bruneian young people expressed medium (27%), strong (63%) and very strong desire (30%) to be involved in improving the environment. However, less of the young people perceived that they had the skills to bring about environmental improvement and participate in environmental actions with the majority rating their skills as moderate (58%), strong (26%) and very strong (7%). The respondents’ involvement in specific environmental actions included taking part in cleaning campaigns and anti-litter schemes (48%), deciding to re-use or recycle something instead of throwing it away (44%), trying to encourage someone else to change an activity or practice that they thought was harmful (37%) and choosing household products that are better for the environment (34%). The reasons given by the students for any environmentally unfriendly behaviour included that they did not think their actions would make much difference and that there were no practical alternatives (19%), that they do not have time (12%), that they are more concerned with saving money (10%), or that they did not understand what is harmful or not (8%). From the interviews, the students’ optimism of what's being done to improve the environment is apparent in responses such as, ‘more of our generation are involved now’, ‘commitment for reducing gas emissions’, ‘in Kampong Air, there are improved sewage systems’, ‘new laws for no open burning’, ‘government commercials in TV warn people’, ‘water (from the oil production and processing company) is recycled and not deposited into the sea’. Nevertheless there is some pessimism evident from comments such as, ‘cannot see countries coming to an agreement’, ‘US cut their CFC gases but they themselves export the CFC gases’, ‘exporting what they do not need anymore (to poorer countries)’, ‘no reply when they (students) write letters’, ‘people are talking but not doing anything’. While some students felt that enough was being done to improve the environment (‘for the amount of knowledge we have, we are’, ‘we can only do so much in the existing systems’, ‘globally, we are’), some students felt that not enough was done, ‘problems take time when mistakes of 100 years cannot be corrected in

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the last few years’, and ‘teaching is one thing, actually doing things is another thing’. Education The frequency of discussion about environmental issues outside school (with family or friends) was found to be lacking, with 7 per cent never discussing these issues, 53 per cent discussing them several times a year, 25 per cent discussing them at least once a month and 8 per cent regularly. Some key environmental concepts that were discussed by most of the students in class and/or at home were ozone layer (99%), greenhouse effect (86%), carbon cycle (81%), renewable resources (77%) and ecology (68%). However, concepts that were unfamiliar to more than half of the young people included intergenerational equity (75%), precautionary principle (63%), and carrying capacity (50%). From the interviews, students indicated that they would like to discuss environmental issues more in school. Some students thought schools provided enough information about the environment ‘but only in school academic matters’. They felt that they ‘learnt about the environment, how the pollution affects the environment’ but also made comments such as ‘I don’t feel that I can do something about the environment, like things I can do individually to help the environment’. Additionally, ‘not enough is done in schools because many do not take geography or biology as an option’. When asked, 50 per cent of students agreed that they should have more environmental studies. However, one emphasised that there was ‘too much in the subjects for exams but if the environment were on the exam then they would accept more topics in’. Respondents felt that a lot of their environmental discussions ‘depend on teachers who are keen about the environment’ who ‘put in more enthusiasm’ as most of the environmental learning is ‘not (specified) in the syllabus’. A large number of the students indicated that they desired discussions on environmental issues at school at least once a month (33%), several times during a year (32%) or at least once a week (26%). CONCLUSION Brunei, despite being a rich, small, developing country with plentiful resources, limited industrialisation and a conservative society with strict religious practices, still has its own environmental problems. The education system could be described as balanced with content orientation, skill enhancement and value development. However, the results of the study show that its unique situation has not adequately encouraged environmentally responsible behaviour. Although young people are aware of environmental issues, they are not so knowledgeable about them. Even though these young people are concerned about the environment and have a desire to act for the environment, their perceived skills for involvement and actual involvement in environmental action do not match their desire. The students expressed beliefs within the environmental paradigm rather than the science and

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technology paradigm and their environmental knowledge as well as their skills to act for the environment, if enhanced, might increase their environmental involvement. The influence of the media as a source of environmental information could be tapped for this purpose. Their feelings of anger, helplessness, concern and desire to act or to run away are similar to those has been found in other countries in this study and need to be considered if they are to be assisted in coping with or preventing environmental problems when they are adults. REFERENCES Antaran, B. (1993). Brunei Dusun: An ethnographic study. Masters Thesis, University of Hull. Baines, J. (1996). Constructing a policy for environmental education: A summary of responses from participants in an environmental education course. (personal communication) Brunei-Government (1996). Statistics Division, Department of Economic Planning and Development, Ministry of Finance. Bandar Seri Begawan. Deen, S. M. Y. I. (1996).. Islamic environmental ethics: Law and society. In R. S. Gottlieb (Ed.), This sacred earth: religion, nature, environment. New York: Routledge, 164-173. Eaton, P. (1994). Environmental policy and development: Implications for Brunei Darussalam, University Brunei Darussalam. Global-Network-Ltd. (1987). Brunei-Part One, Supplement. Ibrahim, H. A. L. b. H. (1994). Culture and development in Brunei Darussalam. United Nations University, Japan and Institute of Asian Studies, Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University. Kaloko, A. A. (1997). Indigenous knowledge and the environment. In Proceedings of third UNESCOACEID international conference - Educational innovation for sustainable development. Bangkok: UNESCO-ACEID, 9-44. Maxwell, A. R. J. (1980). Urang darat, An ethnographic study of the Kadayan of Labu Valley, Brunei, Yale University. Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education (1996). Speech for environmental education workshop. Bandar Seri Begawan. Prabhu, M. (1996). Report and recommendations for an environmental protection law for Brunei Darussalam. The Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation, Bandar Seri Begawan. Subbarini, M. S. (1993). Biocentrism as an approach to environmental ethics: An Islamic determiner for environmental education. International Journal of Environmental Education and Information, 12 (3), 207-12. Tyler, R. (1997). Living, breathing democracy. Souvenir Magazine.

Acknowledgement My acknowledgements to David F. Treagust, Professor of Science Education, National Key Centre for School Science and Mathematics, Curtin University of Technology for his assistance in preparing this chapter.

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JOHN FIEN, DAVID YENCKEN, SHARON CONNELL AND HELEN SYKES

9 AUSTRALIA

Australia has a range of landscapes, plants and animals found nowhere else on earth – a product of Australia’s long physical isolation and geological history. The rainforests of north-eastern Australia contain the world’s most ancient flowering plants and are among the world’s most bio-diverse ecosystems. The Great Barrier Reef running parallel to the coast for 2,300 kilometres is the world’s largest reef formation. Moving inland from the eastern coast, the forested mountains gradually give way to grassy plains and then to deserts covering two-thirds of the total area of Australia. In each of these regions - forest, grassland, reef, coastal plain and desert – plants and animals have adapted to the climate and soils to create ecosystems of great delicacy and diversity. Australia is now formally recognised as one of the major mega-diverse countries of the world. As varied, interesting and beautiful as it is, the natural environment of Australia can also be hard and inhospitable. Rainfall in the desert rangelands is very low and the irregular, unreliable rainfall in most other parts of Australia cause long droughts interspersed with extensive flooding. Tropical cyclones and bush fires, the seeming uniformity of plainlands and eucalypt forests and the lack of human inhabitants are seen by some as representative of a mix of danger, beauty and monotony distinctive to the Australian environment. Commenting on these contrasting faces of Australia, the Aboriginal educator, Professor Eric Willmot noted: Australia is the flattest, driest, ugliest place on earth. Only those who can be possessed by her can know what secret beauty she holds. Australia is a singularity of nature. Her barren, stony surface expresses the history of half this planet's existence and the genesis [or beginning] of life itself. And yet she is bewilderingly hostile. Australia has no great mountain ranges to carry snow to water her vast flat surface. Her rivers, for the most part, flow upside down1, if indeed water runs at all. She carries a population of plants, animals and human beings and their societies, yet she remains the emptiest inhabitable place on earth. Seventy-five per cent of the continent has a human population of less than one person per 10 square kilometres. This is my native land and I have often wondered why she is the way she is. (Willmot 1987)

103 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 103-114. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Development and the Environment

Australia’s rich natural resources, such as its grazing and crop lands, minerals and forests have provided the basis of the high standard of living enjoyed by most Australians. Its early agricultural practices were, however, largely brought from Europe and when applied to Australian soils and plant and water regimes have often had disastrous environmental consequences. Forests have been substantially exploited and cleared. Mining has had further severe impacts. As a result, since European settlement in 1788, half of Australia’s topsoil has been eroded, two-thirds of the original forests have been removed, and there is hardly a lake or river that has not been adversely affected by human action. Soils covering nearly one-half of Australia are in need of restoration and there has been a drastic reduction in Australia’s genetic resource base. This is because many species of plants, animals and birds have been lost from clearing of natural vegetation: Australia has lost 75 per cent of its rainforests and about 40 per cent of its total area of forest. Problems today in rural Australia include land degradation (from dryland and irrigation induced salting, acidification and erosion), loss of biodiversity (from clearing, overstocking and introduced species) and degradation of water regimes (from excessive water extraction, excess nutrient flows, pollution and loss of wetlands). These problems are all interrelated; each influences and aggravates the others. They are seen by some as so severe that they threaten the long-term viability of agricultural productivity and human health in Australia. Australia also has the second largest level of greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the world. These stem from electricity generation, other stationary sources, transport, clearing and agricultural practices in the order of greatest impact. In urban areas pollution from industrial development is increasing, and urban sprawl and traffic emissions now cause billions of dollars in environmental damage and lost production time each year. However, Australia has been successful in reversing some adverse trends in its major cities. Most notable has been the improvement in air quality from the reduction of lead, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and total suspended particles following the introduction of unleaded petrol and catalytic converters for all new passenger cars. Thus, while environmental impacts – especially in cities – may not seem, at first sight, as severe as in other countries, Australia has many very serious environmental problems. Largely, these are the unplanned side effects of past developments that have not taken environmental concerns seriously. Understanding the reasons for these problems and the nature of the current environmental debate in Australia requires an appreciation of the historical interactions between Australians and the environment. The major event in Australian environmental history was the arrival of human settlers. The first settlers were the Aboriginal peoples who came from South-east Asia at least 50,000 years ago. In

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1788 the first European settlers came. The Australian continent now supports forty or fifty times as many people as it did before 1788; so it is easy to appreciate how the human impact on the natural environment has accelerated since then. However, the scale and severity of this human impact is not so much a matter of numbers as of the different values and technologies that have prevailed at different times. Australia’s environmental history reveals a pattern of changing, contrasting and often conflicting environmental values and visions. Today, Australia is home to over twenty million people and is a multicultural society, reflecting waves of immigration from many different countries since the Second World War. Its religious and cultural traditions and its legal and political systems are strongly Anglo-Celtic but these are being slowly modified by the influence of its most recent waves of migrants and by growing awareness of and interest in its Asian neighbours and the growing number of Asian migrants. Australia has an official policy of multiculturalism which opinion polls show to be widely supported by Australian people. The public mood, as expressed in government policies, has remained one of expansion and economic growth, and a national ethos of materialism has favoured consumer-oriented lifestyles over environmental considerations. This does not mean that Australians, at large, lack pride in their environment, especially the natural environment, or are unconcerned about its wise management. There is now a very strong environmental movement in Australia with membership of environmental organisations (NGOs) exceeding 250,000 people. In opinion polls the majority of Australians continue to express concern about the environment. Their concern has, however, been compromised by the failure of decision-makers to tackle Australia’s problems with sufficient commitment. There have been important initiatives taken but, as in most countries, the pattern is ‘too late’ and ‘too slow’. Surveys consistently show that the media is the prime source of environmental information in Australia, and that media treatment of the environment has been growing consistently since the 1960s. Unfortunately, this does not mean that the environment is well covered and thoughtfully treated by the Australian media although there is some excellent reporting. In some newspapers, international reports and research are systematically ignored, while in others pro-development and antienvironmental reporting is still common. The media seemingly unquestioningly accept the agenda of the governing parties and, if the environment is not of immediate governmental concern, it is relegated to a minor and sectoral position. Much of the media interest is focused on political conflict rather than on the substance of the issue. Towards a Change

There are, however, signs that increased attention is being paid to the demands of the Australian environment and strategies are being sought to integrate environmental protection and economic development. Individual local and state governments as well as the national government have a range of laws that provide for appropriate impact assessment and planning processes. Perhaps the most significant action in

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recent years has been the agreement by the leaders of all the state governments and the national government to a range of common approaches to environmental management. This began in 1989 when the Australian Government set out to develop a National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (NSESD). The process was extensive and, over a period of two years from 1990 to the end of 1992, involved consultation and negotiations between key interest groups from industry, the community, conservation groups, scientific organisations and all levels of government. Working Groups were established in nine key areas: manufacturing, mining, agriculture, forests, fisheries, energy production, energy use, tourism and transport. Each Working Group developed a comprehensive report that fed into the National Strategy. Intersectoral issues, such as climate change, biodiversity conservation, urban development, employment, economic diversity and resilience and international considerations, were the subject of special reports by each working group. Australia’s three tiers of Government – Commonwealth, State and Local – adopted the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development in December 1992 at a meeting of the Heads of Government of each jurisdiction. The National Strategy is based upon five key principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development: Integrating economic and environmental goals in policies and activities; Ensuring that environmental assets are properly valued; Providing for equity within and between generations; Dealing cautiously with risk and irreversibility; and Recognising the global dimension. At the national level, implementation of the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development has involved a range of detailed policies, usually through co-operative mechanisms similar to those used to develop the National Strategy itself. National strategies now exist for Greenhouse, Oceans, Forests, Rangelands, Biodiversity and Waste Management, and are consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable development. Australia-wide implementation is carried out through Federal, State and Territory Ministerial councils such as the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council and the National Environmental Protection Council. The national government has also embarked upon a program of national environmental reporting. The first significant report in over a decade was Australia State of the Environment 1996 (State of the Environment Advisory Council 1996), and serves as a benchmark against which the condition of the environment and the environmental performance of governments can be monitored in the future. There is now a statutory requirement to prepare comprehensive national state of the environment reports at least every five years. These are all important initiatives but much more is required to deal with Australia’s most pressing problems, especially the interwoven problems of loss of biodiversity, land degradation and degradation of inland water regimes and the level of greenhouse gas emissions. Further discussion about these and related issues may

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be found in Resetting the Compass: Australia’s Journey Towards Sustainability (Yencken and Wilkinson, 2000). Environmental Education

The five State and two Territory governments in Australia have major responsibility for education. Education in Australian primary and secondary schools is characterised by a strong tradition of school-based curriculum development in which schools and teachers are responsible for translating the broad guidelines of syllabuses into detailed objectives, content, teaching methods and assessment of student learning. Direct attention is devoted to environmental education in Australian school syllabuses, curriculum guides and teacher education. Departments of Education in all states have adopted definitions and prescriptions for environmental education developed by the UNESCO-UNEP International Environmental Education program. Environmental education policies and curriculum guides in Australia place much emphasis on inter-disciplinarity, the teaching of environmental values, critical thinking and decision-making, increased school-community interaction in solving environmental problems and the use of experiential teaching methods. Environmental education is not a formal subject that is compulsorily studied in Australian primary and secondary schools. As a result, while there has been much innovation and development of environmental education programs, it is left to individual teachers to determine the level of infusion of environmental education into the classroom curriculum. The general pattern of environmental education in Australia appears to be one of rising enthusiasm among students and teachers but research indicates a need for caution in claiming that good practice in environmental education is widespread (Spork 1992). The studies have found that high student and teacher interest do not translate into comprehensive programs. The reasons for this include: limited teacher awareness of the values and social participation objectives of environmental education, a focus upon education in and about the environment and lack of attention to the critical aspects of education for the environment and barriers imposed by syllabuses, assessment and timetabling constraints. An important recent initiative has been the introduction of a new Key Learning Area called Studies of Society and Environment which is studied by all students up to Year 10 (Year 12 being the final year of schooling). This is a promising move to engender discussion and thinking about the relationship between environment, economy and society. Other important initiatives include: the establishment of a National Environmental Education Council to advise the Minister for the Environment; the publication of a discussion paper on environmental education and sustainable development by the Australian Conservation Foundation (Fien 2001), and the introduction of a new environmental policy in one state, New South Wales, that seeks to bring together individual courses with specific environmental themes, the incorporation of environmental values into all subjects, school environmental management and school campus management.

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JOHN FIEN, DAVID YENCKEN, SHARON CONNELL AND HELEN SYKES THE AUSTRALIAN STUDY

The research reported in this chapter was carried out in two Australian cities, Melbourne and Brisbane, in 1996. These two cities represent distinctively different histories and culture in Australia. The questionnaire was administered to a total sample of 2,100 students from sixteen of the most academically successful secondary schools in the two cities. These schools were also a representative mix of large and small, single sex and co-educational, and large and small schools. A smaller number of these students, totaling 240 students, participated in twenty-four focus group interviews over two years. Levels of Concern about Personal, Social and Environmental Issues When the Australian young people interviewed in the focus group studies were asked about their hopes and fears for the future, many expressed concerns of an individual nature, relating to personal success, fears of personal and academic failure and apprehension about finding a job and having financial stability. By contrast, these individualistic concerns about their own future were of less importance when the young people were asked about the most important goals for Australia. Instead they indicated a strong concern for societal and environmental issues as is illustrated in Table 9.1.

Although concern with nuclear threats – perhaps reflecting the importance of this issue in Australia which has resisted testing in the South Pacific and China – was chosen by the largest number of students as the Number 1 ranked issue, protecting the environment ranks far ahead of all other issues when all the first four rankings are assessed. It is interesting that these priorities for Australia tend to be different from the views of adults who have ranked unemployment and the economy more highly in several polls. When asked about environmental issues facing Australia the students identified ‘the destruction of the ozone layer’ as the most important issue at both a national and a global level (Table 9.2). Interestingly, in the focus group interviews, the students tended to express a greater concern for local environmental problems rather than those of a national or global nature. The students’ local concerns related to air pollution (in the Melbourne sample) and urban development and its encroachment on local areas (in the Brisbane sample).

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Environmental Awareness and Knowledge In the focus group discussions, the students demonstrated their mature outlook when it came to defining the concept of ‘environment’, many explaining it as encompassing both the natural and social environment. However, the questionnaire survey reveals that their levels of awareness of key environmental concepts were variable. While the students had a very strong awareness of the concepts of ‘the greenhouse effect’, ‘ozone layer’ ‘renewable resources’ and ‘ecology’, many reported they ‘had not heard of’ the concepts of ‘intergenerational equity’, ‘the precautionary principle’, ‘biodiversity’, ‘sustainable development’, ‘carrying capacity’ and ‘the carbon cycle’ (Table 9.3).

The students’ knowledge of the environment was moderate, with the largest number of the students answering between 4 to 6 questions correctly (Table 9.4). Out of a maximum score of 11, the average student score was 5.5.

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Particularly striking were the low scores for questions related to ecology, the causes of ozone depletion, the precautionary principle and sustainable development. On the other hand, questions that related to biodiversity, carrying capacity and greenhouse were correctly answered by three-quarters of the students. There were also some discrepancies found between what the students had heard of and how much they actually knew. For example, most students were able to correctly define carrying capacity, intergenerational equity and biodiversity, although somewhat fewer stated they had heard of these concepts. On the other hand the students were quite familiar with the concept of ozone layer and ecology, yet had much lower conceptual knowledge of these same concepts. When the young people in the focus groups were asked to explain, in their own words, the causes of environmental problems, they overwhelmingly identified ‘people’ as the major cause. The young people particularly identified negative human characteristics such as laziness, lack of care, greed and ignorance and similar attitudes in government and industry. This important finding has not been revealed in past research based on surveys which have not enabled the young people to frame their opinions about the causes of environmental problems in their own words. Nevertheless, young people did not appear to be aware of the way social structures and institutions shape people’s value systems and are thus the underlying root of environmental problems. Instead, most seemed to think changing individual values could redress environmental problems. As well, few of the young people seemed willing to acknowledge how their own lifestyles could contribute to these problems, preferring to talk in the third person. Humans are the cause. Choosing money over the environment because they believe it’s seen as more important for our way of life.

Television, newspapers and school were reported as the most important sources of environmental information for Australian young people (Table 9.5). Family and non-government environment groups were also popular. These findings were supported in the focus groups. In addition, the young people identified their own personal experiences as a major source of information about the environment: My own experiences. Everyday you see pollution, for example. You can go into the natural environment or the suburbs and see that it is almost ‘had it’. You see housing estates in places where animals lived.

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In the interviews, personal experiences were also cited as the most reliable source of environmental information. In both the surveys and focus groups, nongovernment environmental groups and schools were seen as very reliable (Table 9.6). However, the ranking of the reliability of other important environmental information sources were significantly different with students far more cynical of the media (television and newspapers) and much more trusting of environmental groups and schools. The media are going to extremes and report only the news that has conflict in it. You only believe the media to an extent. You don’t believe the fine details, just the overall picture.

Environmental Beliefs

The majority of young people (66%) surveyed in Australia considered it was important to protect the environment even if it meant some reduction in economic growth. When asked if economic growth was bound to be at the expense of the environment the large majority of students (79%) also believed that it was quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. The results reported in Table 9.7 indicated that few students held beliefs aligned with a technological paradigm. By contrast two thirds of the students held beliefs consistent with the environmental paradigm.

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Related to science and technology, most students believed that science and technology had improved rather than worsened their quality of life and more believed that science and technology had increased rather than decreased their freedom and independence. But many were sceptical when asked whether in the future: Science and technology will always be able to find solutions to our problems; and Complex technologies can be made virtually risk free through continual improvements. In the focus interviews the Australian young people expressed strong feelings about their concerns for the environment, especially in terms of three common sentiments – frustration, sadness and pessimism. Frustration was common: ‘there was so much talk and not enough practical action is being taken’. Despite what was being done, ‘it was not enough and people were going to continue doing the same thing’. They lamented that they, as young people, could not do anything to really change major problems: I feel really helpless. What can I do? I’m a 16 year old kid in a class-room. I‘ve got all these views, but what can I do about it.

Environmental Actions

The majority of the students rated their desire to be involved in improving the environment as medium to strong (72%) and a further 18 per cent very strong. However, when the students were asked to rate their level of skills and knowledge to bring about such environmental improvements (no matter how small they were), their scores were substantially lower. Over 52 per cent of the students rated their skills as moderate while a smaller number of students (26%) rated them as strong. The largest number of students reported involvement in household actions that included: Deciding to reuse or recycle rather than throw away (73%); Choosing household products better for the environment (60%); Making an effort to reduce water consumption (45%); and Encouraging some one else to change an action or practice (42%). Less popular types of actions related to civic activities (involving writing a letter or signing a petition and making a report or complaint about an environmental

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issue), information-gathering activities and community-oriented work (including taking part in a clean-up or anti-litter campaign or tree-planting). Given that a significant majority of the students had not undertaken any deliberate action to help the environment apart from recycling, they suggested the main reasons for their environmentally unfriendly behaviour were: I feel that there is no practical alternative (48%); and I don’t think my actions will make much difference (45%). In the interviews, the students expressed similar views, suggesting the reasons that there were no alternatives was due to cost and the lack of governmental support for providing alternatives and putting control measures. In turn, this may explain the young people’s limited sense of agency that their actions would make a difference. Despite this, the young people indicated they still believed that in the future they could do things to help the environment by continuing to do their small part in the home. Some students were confident that in the future they may be able to do more for the environment, if they went to university and studied an environmental degree or if they owned their own company. Education

Only 8% of the students reported that they regularly talked about the environment once a week outside of school. A further 21 per cent discussed the environment once a month. Instead the majority of students (51%) indicated that they only talked about the environment outside of school several times a year and a further 17% stated that it had never been discussed. Whereas half of the students in the Australian sample reported that they had discussed key environmental concepts such as ‘the ozone layer’ and ‘the greenhouse effect’ at school and at home, two thirds of the students reported they had never heard of other concepts. This included the concepts of biodiversity, precautionary principle, intergenerational equity, sustainable development, renewable resources and carrying capacity. The students in the focus groups explained that school was a major source of environmental information ‘because it provided the basics’ which they could trust and from which they could investigate further. The young people particularly attributed their environmental knowledge to information learnt in subjects such as geography, biology or chemistry and the influence of specific teachers who possessed a strong environmental interest or ethic. However, other students expressed strong condemnation of schools for not providing them with up-to-date and relevant information about the environment, concerned ‘it was not possible to learn about the environment unless you studied particular subjects’. Some contrasted this with their primary education. Given this lack of discussion about the environment in young peoples’ social contexts, the students indicated that they wanted greater attention to environmental issues in school. The largest number of students indicated that they would like to discuss the environment in school at least several times a year or once a month (Table 9.8).

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CONCLUSION

Many students in Australia have made a very large shift towards the adoption of an environmental paradigm as seen in their answers to the scales related to environmental and technological beliefs. This conclusion is further supported by the ranking of the environment as one of the most important issues for Australia and their views about its importance vis-a-vis the economy. These strong beliefs have not, however, translated into similar levels of knowledge about the environment, nor automatically translated into personal behaviour. Students possess a somewhat shallow understanding of key environmental problems and their causes. Environmental actions are mostly limited to household behaviours, with most students indicating that they were unwilling to perform such civic actions as writing a letter or signing a petition. The findings also indicate that the environmental education Australian young people are gaining is inadequate in both quantity and quality. This suggests that the end purposes and full educational potential of environmental education are being lost – and that environmental education is not being implemented according to international or state guidelines in many Australian schools. Many challenges thus lie ahead for environmental education in Australian schools and the community. REFERENCES Fien, J. (2001). Education for sustainability. Melbourne: Australian Conservation Foundation. Spork, H. (1992). Environmental education: A mismatch between theory and practice. Australian Journal of Environmental Education. 8, 147-168. State of the Environment Advisory Council (1996). Australia: State of the environment. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing. Willmot, E. (1987). Australia: The last experiment. 1986 Boyer Lectures. Sydney: ABC Books. Yencken, D. and Wilkinson, D. (2000). Resetting the compass: Australia’s journey towards sustainability. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing. 1

Australians often joke that some rivers ‘flow upside down’ because the water is so muddy it looks like the bed of the river is on the top of the water.

PAUL KEOWN

10 AOTEAROA - NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand is an archipelago of considerable diversity. Active volcanoes testify to the geological youth of a land famous for the beauty and variety of its landscapes and habitats. On the two largest islands, urban centres and the green farmlands of the plains contrast sharply with the alpine terrain, wild rivers, forests, and lakes of the more remote regions. An extensive and varied coastline and numerous offshore islands span from the subtropical north to the sub-antarctic south, further extending the geographical and ecological variation of New Zealand. New Zealand is diverse and youthful in human terms too. The indigenous Polynesian inhabitants, the Maori, arrived in Aotearoa around one thousand years ago. European settlers (of British stock) began arriving in earnest just 150 years ago. Pacific Islanders, Asians and other groups of people have added significantly to the diversity of the population since 1945. The cultural diversity of the country is underscored by a biculturalism recognised in the Treaty of Waitangi; an agreement signed in 1840 that attempted to formalise a partnership relationship between Maoris and ‘Pakeha’ or non-Maori settlers. While the Maori people are now well outnumbered by those of European ancestry, Maori as well as ‘Pakeha’ cultural views remain significant in many aspects of national life. The present population of New Zealand is just under four million people. The population is highly urbanised with 78 per cent living in cities and towns of 10,000 people or more. The population is highly concentrated in the six largest urban areas. New Zealand is a relatively well-educated society in which people normally complete 10 to 12 years of formal education and a third of the population hold formal post secondary school qualifications. INFLUENCES ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT

Environmental Philosophies

Today, New Zealand society is predominantly grounded in the Western JudeoChristian philosophic tradition. While Maori philosophic and ethical concepts are 115 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 115—125. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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generally holistic and earth-centred, the arrival of large numbers of European settlers brought the Western anthropocentric philosophy of the pioneer into ascendancy. Settlers often saw the native bush as an enemy and cleared large areas of sub-tropical forest in order to establish farmland. The development of an agri-industrial and consumer oriented society has drastically modified New Zealand’s environment. However, a recent resurgence of Maori culture and values, a renewed Pakeha concern to honour the Treaty of Waitangi, and a growing change in discourse from the dominant social to a new environmental paradigm have resulted in an increase in concern for the environment in the last three decades Media Treatment of the Environment The local media is active in promoting New Zealand’s ‘clean green natural wonder’ image and often reflects a national pride in New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance, its extensive national parks and reserves, and its support of international environmental initiatives. But the media also covers controversies surrounding growing threats to native flora and fauna, moves to cut carbon emissions and demands to clean up water pollution and toxic waste dumps. There is open debate from both economic development and environmental protection viewpoints. Some high profile incidents such as the ‘Poisoned Paradise’ report (New Scientist, 1993), publicising toxic pollution in New Zealand have exposed a gap between the pristine environment image and reality. The development of a more broadly representative parliament and a consequent rise in the influence of green politics has seen the development of a more robust debate on environmental issues. These factors have contributed to a renewed emphasis on environmental issues in the media in recent years. The State of the Environment New Zealand has a very large investment in parks and reserves with nearly 20% of the country having this form of protection. The country is an acknowledged world leader in endangered species recovery programmes. Growth in nature tourism and successful marketing of natural produce associated with the clean green, non-nuclear image are benefits of this reputation. However, New Zealand is a country built on the exploitation of natural resources. Both Maoris and Europeans have decimated New Zealand’s fine, sub-tropical forests, and many animal and plant pests have been introduced into the country. Pasture and arable land occupies 52% of New Zealand’s land area, and many of the agricultural practices employed contribute to soil erosion and the contamination of waterways. Agriculture and transport in New Zealand are heavily dependent upon fossil fuels and energy productivity has declined at an accelerated rate over the past decade There has recently been strong criticism that New Zealand is not spending enough on its Conservation Estate and other environmental issues. The Resource Management Act (RMA) and other reforms have streamlined New Zealand's environmental legislation in the last decade and resulted in an increased focus on ‘sustainable management’. However, a recent State of the Environment

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Report (Ministry for the Environment, 1997), noted that there were real threats to New Zealand's environmental reputation in a range of areas. An Environment 2010 Strategy (Ministry for the Environment, 1995) setting out ten ‘Principles for Integrating Environment Society and Economy’, and identifying eleven ‘Environmental Goals’ and an ‘Agenda for Action’ is part of the political and social response to these concerns. Environmental Education

Environmental education has operated on the fringes of the New Zealand education system (Dowling, 1993). The initial focus was on 'nature study' but since the 1970's a small group of educators has been working to establish a more robust cross-curricula form of environmental education. A national environmental education association was formed in 1984 and this and a number of other groups have advocated support for environmental education. While environmental education is not a formal subject within the curriculum the eight main learning areas of the curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1993) do provide considerable scope for environmental education within subject areas. However, due to a lack of leadership, lack of in-service training and limited resources there has been little development of this potential in most school programmes to date. In most schools, environmental education remains a low priority. (Barker, 1997). Recently, after many years of encouragement from environmental educators, a set of Guidelines for Environmental Education in New Zealand Schools (Ministry of Education, 1999) was finally published. Hopefully this initiative, and the resources and professional development associated with it, will strengthen the environment focus of New Zealand school programmes in the next few years. THE NEW ZEALAND STUDY

This chapter reports on a 1997 study comprising a total of 700 sixteen and seventeen year old students in six secondary schools in two of New Zealand’s major cities. Auckland, located in the north of the country is New Zealand's largest city with a population of one million people. Hamilton, with a population of just over 100,000 people, is a provincial city serving the agricultural Waikato region some 120 kilometers south of Auckland. In the first phase of the study all participants completed the survey. In a second stage the same six schools were revisited and focus group interviews conducted with 8 to 10 students in each school. The study sample included slightly more males than females. Males made up 53 per cent of the sample while females comprised 47 per cent. Awareness of Social Issues and Levels of Concern

Focus group interviews showed that New Zealand students were concerned about a range of personal and social issues. They were fearful about environmental degradation, concerned that pollution could become overwhelming, that ‘natural’

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environments and habitats will be lost and that there will be severe resource depletion. They often saw these issues as worrying because they would restrict personal and societal choices in the future: I don’t want the world to be overly polluted for us when we get older nor for the next generation.

Students were also fearful of future social conditions particularly worsening levels of crime and violence and the possibility that there will be less job opportunities: I’m worried about things like youth unemployment, lack of jobs, and crime getting worse

Students’ hopes also focused on a mix of personal and social factors. They wanted New Zealand to be a country that lives up to its clean green image and a country with a strong sense of fairness and a commitment to equity. They wanted a secure future with jobs for all and safe and prosperous communities to live in. Concern about the destruction of the ozone layer was clearly considered the strongest issue for New Zealand (Table 10.1), followed by the destruction of forests and dealing with household rubbish. On the world stage, ozone destruction and overpopulation were the most significant concerns.

Two points came through clearly in discussions about the meaning of the term ‘environment’. Firstly and often initially, students mentioned that environment meant the natural surroundings, the physical and biological ecosystem. However, most students were quick to point out that this was a rather narrow view and explained that the concept ‘environment’ included cultural and built environments too. Table 10.2 reports on student familiarity with eleven key environmental concepts. The ozone layer, renewable resources and greenhouse were concepts very familiar to most students while intergenerational equity and the precautionary principle were regarded as ‘unheard of’ by many. This data suggests that New Zealand students are only moderately knowledgeable with a high degree of knowledge about only three of eleven key environmental concepts. Between half and two thirds of students have ‘not heard of’ six of the eleven concepts. This conclusion is supported by the results of the students’ attempts to correctly define key environmental concepts (Table 10.3).

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Only a quarter of the study sample defined more than six of the environmental definitions in the study correctly. Students scored particularly poorly in questions related to the precautionary principle, sustainable development, ecology, carrying capacity and the ozone layer. The ozone and ecology results were surprising as students claimed to be quite familiar with these concepts yet their knowledge of them was clearly poor. On the other hand, students scored well in their responses about the greenhouse effect, intergenerational equity and renewable resources. The intergenerational equity result was notable, as this was a concept few were familiar with. There was considerable variation in views about the key underlying causes of environmental problems. Some considered ignorance was the key factor, claiming that the level of awareness of environmental issues and the depth of knowledge about them was not high and so many people do not understand or appreciate the seriousness of the problems. However, others argued that people were aware of the seriousness of environmental problems but the desire to make money and to purchase

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what they wanted overrode their concerns. Other students argued that the development of new and more powerful technologies and the drive of humankind to advance and improve were key in causing environmental degradation. While some students identified capitalism and industrialization as systems and structures causing environmental problems, many students felt that individuals do not do enough. They argued that people are generally lazy and place comfort and convenience above the needs of the environment and that people will not change their attitudes unless there is some direct and recognizable effect on them personally. Humans just take the easy way out. That’s why you don’t get that much recycling. It has to start with people taking action themselves like picking up their own rubbish but they don’t.

However, both groups considered the lack of government commitment to legislate for and fund action on environmental issues was a key reason why systems, institutions and individuals continued to offend. The Governments are too slow to react too. Like there are problems happening now that are just slowly building and it takes a while before they do anything about it. The government is not putting their money in the right areas and is not doing enough to support the correct initiatives.

Students considered the mass media and in particular TV news and documentaries as their main sources of information (Table 10.4). Some students also included school, newspapers, magazines, books and pamphlets important sources. You can get a lot from the media like the newspapers, TV and stuff. They do tend to hype things, both the good things and the bad. But things that happen, laws that are passed, the good and bad points and so on are well covered.

Environmental NGOs, and to a lesser extent, family and friends and were also mentioned as good sources of information. Students clearly felt NGOs to be the most reliable source of information (Table 10.5). School, newspapers and television were also well regarded by one quarter of the sample. The ‘Government’ also scored surprisingly well. Interviews revealed that it was the students’ high regard for the Department of Conservation and local government agencies such as Environment Waikato that contributed to this.

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Around half of focus group students appeared satisfied with the information they had and considered themselves reasonably well informed. However, the other half considered that they did not have access to enough good information on the environment and, in particular, information from ‘experts’. There was also concern that much of the information that they were receiving from school was second-hand and often dated. Environmental Beliefs New Zealand students’ attitudes toward the environment are strongly positive. A clear majority of 64 per cent believed that New Zealand should concentrate on the environment even if it means some reduction in economic growth. However, most (73%) believed that it is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. New Zealand student’s beliefs are aligned toward the environment paradigm rather than toward a technological paradigm, As Table 10.6 indicates 52 per cent of students frequently identified with environmental oriented statements. In contrast only 2 per cent regularly identified with technologically oriented statements.

New Zealand students commonly expressed feelings of anger and frustration about the lack of action and commitment of money and resources towards resolving environmental problems. Others mentioned being overwhelmed, feeling helplessness and feeling sad about the present state of the people-environment relationship. A large proportion of the young people involved in the focus groups considered the

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problems to be extremely serious often using words and terms such as ‘desperate’, ‘critical’, ‘at a turning point’, and ‘getting worse by the day’. Extremely serious. There are hundreds of species disappearing and hundreds and thousands of hectares of forest being cleared. It’s at a sort of turning point. It’s quite serious and its getting to the potentially very serious critical stage.

However, a small group of students argued that while the issues are serious they are not, in their opinion, at crisis point yet and argued that many people, groups and institutions are exaggerating the scale of environmental problems.

Environmental Action A clear majority (70%) of students indicated a medium to strong desire to do things to help improve the environment and a further 17 per cent said their desire was ‘very strong’. 74 per cent also rated their skills and knowledge as moderate or strong and only 18 per cent considered their skills and knowledge as weak or very weak. However, these positive attitudes and perceived abilities do not result in similar high levels of action to help improve the environment. Less than half of the students surveyed (48%) reported that they recycled, and a similar number purchased environmentally friendly products. Other forms of action were even less popular. Only 21 per cent had written a letter, signed a petition, or attended a meeting to protect the environment and just 12 per cent of students had made a report or complaint about something that they thought was bad for the environment. Focus groups, however, saw some reason to be hopeful. They noted that many individuals, communities and councils in New Zealand have been developing successful recycling programmes. The media, schools and NGO groups were similarly considered to be making some progress in persuading people to be more active in caring for the environment. The relatively low level of action by students could be related to the feeling of helplessness mentioned earlier with 44 per cent considering their actions would make no difference and 32 per cent considering there were no viable environmentally friendly alternatives available to them. A lack of time (35%), lack of knowledge (32%), a desire to save money (31%), and a desire to enjoy comfortable and convenient living (29%), were also factors discouraging action. Interestingly, the focus groups considered that there are plenty of good ideas around about what to do. Unfortunately, a lack of money and commitment on the part of individuals, organizations, business and governments to improving the environment were considered as obstacles to the implementation of these good ideas. Students in focus groups frequently mentioned that in the future they could be running companies, in leadership positions, have greater influence in the community, and be able to use the power of the vote to assist the environment. However, there were very few specific ideas about what they would do with this greater degree of power and influence. Many felt there was quite a lot they could do at a personal level. Recycling and waste sorting, using environmental friendly products, persuading others, and supporting local action groups and NGOs were all mentioned.

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However, a number argued that individual personal action would not be enough. In addition, a wide range of broader national and community actions were considered to be necessary. These include: Strong environmental leadership by politicians and governments; The need for better management of resources; Switching to alternative energy sources; Dealing with consumer resistance; Creating rewards, pay-offs and benefits through changed structures, taxes and pricing; Reduced immigration; More involvement of local communities in what to do to help the environment; and Increased use of public transport. Education

Students reported that there is more discussion of environmental issues at school than in family and community settings. However, the amount of discussion is not particularly high in either setting. Less than 30 per cent reported discussing the environment at school monthly and only 9 per cent said it was discussed weekly. Over 40 per cent said environmental discussion occurred only ‘several times a year’ and over 20 per cent said it was never discussed at school at all. Discussions out of school were even less frequent with 15 per cent reporting monthly discussions and just 4 per cent weekly ones. The relatively low levels of discussion reported here may well help explain the moderate levels of environmental knowledge evident in this study. While most students would like more discussion of the environment at school than they currently experience (Table 10.7), the preference for ‘often’ rather that ‘regularly’ indicates that they do not wish this to be overdone. Surprisingly, over 40 per cent prefer the very low levels of discussion, ‘several times a year’ or ‘never’.

Cultural Differences

New Zealand is a bicultural nation and Maori cultural knowledge and values are increasingly considered as important in society. While the survey did not create opportunities to consider cultural differences, a number of Maori, and some Non-

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Maori students, spoke strongly on this subject in focus groups. Maori students in particular expressed a concern that Maori were not being consulted as much as they should be and hoped that Maori would regain more control over their own land and resources. Whanau (family), and in particular grandparents and elders were regarded as a very trustworthy source of information on the environment. Maori students held the environmental knowledge and attitudes of Iwi (local people) in high regard. They thought that outside agencies and the wider community should be taking far more notice of such knowledge. They considered that environmental exploitation and pollution were a very serious issue for Maori communities and an affront to Maori cultural and spiritual values. Pollution of airways for breathing is a problem for people’s health and very damaging to the public. It is also an affront to Papatuanuku (Mother Earth). Discussion showed that some Maori students, particularly those from rural tribal environments had very specific knowledge of local environmental issues. The excesses of commercial companies and innovative efforts of Iwi to enhance local environments were reported in detail by such students.

CONCLUSIONS

The overall picture of environmental knowledge and attitudes that emerges from these results suggests that New Zealand students are not particularly knowledgeable about the environment nor very active in helping to improve it. This probably reflects the lack of development of environmental education in New Zealand schools. While students’ attitudes and beliefs do appear strongly supportive of the environment, the lack of sufficient knowledge and the belief that individuals and small groups of people cannot really make a difference means that the level of action to help improve environmental quality is low. There is some evidence that New Zealand students are proud of the clean, green and beautiful image that the country has and do wish to retain New Zealand’s relatively good environmental reputation. Some students also acknowledge that Maori cultural values and traditions are holistic and earth-centred and can help support environmental quality. New Zealand students are also supportive of local environmental organizations. However, many students in discussions chose to return a number of times to the theme that the government and those in power do not commit enough time, money and leadership to environmental issues. Others stressed that many people are selfish and that this blocks progress and others considered that society was much too soft on industry. There appears to be a belief that there are good ideas and approaches that can be taken to improve the environment but that the individual and societal will to act on a scale that will have an effect is lacking.

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Thus, while young New Zealanders appear to be hearing the message of the new environmental paradigm, their level of environmental knowledge and their attitudes toward acting to implement it are ‘under-powered’. There is an urgent need to implement the new Guidelines for Environmental Education in the New Zealand Curriculum. As one student concluded. There is lots of talk going on. Now is the time for action!

REFERENCES Barker, M. (1997). Unless someone tells me what they mean, unpublished paper presented at the Third UNESCO-ACEID International Conference: Education for Sustainable Development, Bangkok, 1-4 December. Dowling, R.K. (1993). Environmental education in New Zealand. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 9, 21 -32. Ministry for the Environment (1995). Environment 2010 strategy: A statement of the government’s strategy on the environment. Wellington: Ministry for the Environment. Ministry for the Environment (1997). The state of New Zealand's environment 1997. Wellington: GP Publications and Ministry for the Environment. Ministry of Education (1993). The New Zealand curriculum framework. Wellington: Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education (1999). Guidelines for environmental education in New Zealand schools. Wellington: Learning Media. New Scientist (1993). New Zealand’s poisoned paradise. New Scientist. July.

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PREMILA KUMAR

11 FIJI

Fiji’s modern history dates from the early 1600s when Europeans first made contact. Traditional Fijian societies, however, predate this by thousands of years back to when the great chief, Lutunasobasoba, led his people across the seas to their new island home, a mid-Pacific archipelago which, today, comprises 330 islands with a combined land area of nearly 20,000 square kilometres. About one third of these islands are inhabited with most people living on the two major islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. INFLUENCES ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT

Traditional Culture

The relationship of early Fijians with the natural environment was an intimate and dynamic one (Farell and Murphy, 1978). The environment was an integral part of physical, social, cultural and spiritual life; indeed it was regarded as a source of life. Materially, the natural environment was the source of sustenance and survival, providing food, medicine, fuel, clothing, housing, transportation, chemicals and a wide range of resources for handicrafts and other culturally important products. However, the environment was more than a supply of resources. It was respected and nurtured through the various ceremonies and communal activities that enhanced custodianship of natural resources. Hence, the sense of identity as a people, which is encapsulated in the term vanua, has interrelated physical, social and cultural dimensions. Traditional environmental knowledge was applied in activities such as fishing, agriculture and the gathering of seasonal resources for sustenance. Work was usually a communal activity. Certain plants and animals were totems, and objects of ancestral respect. As a result, certain groups or families would not harm or kill them, even for personal use. Taboos also forbade traditionally related groups from eating certain foods in the presence of others. For example, chiefs would not eat fish with warrior tribes while the latter would not eat pork in front of chiefs. There were also 127 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 127-137. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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taboos on the use of coconuts and plantain. In addition, harvesting was carefully monitored to ensure the maturity and abundance of crops with the first fruits of a harvest presented to the priests and chiefs. Anyone who broke these protocols was treated with disdain. Such customs are a reflection of aspects of both cultural identity and conservation practice. Traditional Fijian society followed strict population control measures. Premarital sex was actively discouraged, particularly for women. To space the birth of children and protect maternal and infant health, fathers were expected to move out of the family home until a new-born child was weaned - a custom that was strictly observed and monitored by the man’s mother-in-law. The Impact of Colonialism The first Europeans to land in Fiji included missionaries, traders, whalers and settlers, many of whom were escaped convicts from Australia. The missionaries made major inroads into the cultural and religious practices while the lure of the profits to be made from the natural bounty of the Fijian Islands led to a demand for large areas of land for cash and industrial crops, especially sugar cane. This alienated much valuable farmland from indigenous people and almost destroyed the traditional balance of social, economic, cultural and environmental values. International rivalry for Fijian land and claims for punitive damages after retaliatory raids by local people led Fijian chiefs to seek the protection of Great Britain with Fiji being ceded to Britain in 1874. One of the early problems faced by the colonial administration was a shortage of farm labour on the sugar cane plantations. This problem was addressed by authorising the importation of indentured labourers from India. The Indian population rose from an initial 450 people in 1879 to around 30,000 in 1990. This changed not only the demographic and economic structure of Fiji but also cultural and political life. Indeed, today, the native Fijian and Indian Fijian populations are quite evenly balanced in terms of numbers. Despite the fact that they have lived together for more than a century, these two groups have tended to remain distinct. The two cultures have co-existed in relative harmony, each maintaining their cultural and traditional values, for many years. However, differences in economic success (predominantly Indo-Fijian) and constitutional and military power (predominantly native Fijian) have caused several political crises in recent years. However, Indo-Fijian cosmology reflects much of the same sensitivity to nature as found in native Fijian beliefs. The universe is recognised as comprising five elements - air, water, fire, earth and space - in which the divine being is present. Earth is considered as mother and all living things as her offspring. Air is recognized as the breath of life, the prana, for all living things. Trees and plants are worshipped and protected and all religious ceremonies are performed in the open air and are incomplete without water. Following political independence, the Fiji government returned land to native control and, today, ‘native land’ accounts for over 80 per cent of Fiji’s land area.

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This land is communally owned by clans and can only be leased, not sold outside the clan. A Native Land Trust Board (NLTB) manages around 30,000 such leases on behalf of traditional landowners. Most leases are held by small-scale Indo-Fijian sugar growers. Political decisions since the 1960s have made leases more difficult to obtain and renew and lease conditions more restrictive. This has provided security for native Fijians but made many Indo-Fijians feel insecure. Indeed, where native Fijian attitudes to the environment have sprung from the security and abundance of their land, forests and seas, Indo-Fijian environmental attitudes are being shaped by insecurity and the immediate need for survival. Fiji is a democracy with a popularly elected parliament operating in partnership with a Council of Chiefs. However, military coups in 1987 and a civilian insurrection in 2,000 have overthrown the two democratically-elected Indo-Fijian Prime Ministers. As a result of this political and economic insecurity, many skilled Indo-Fijians have emigrated. This loss of well-educated and trained workers has created an imbalance in the labour market (Baba 1996) and imposed large costs on the economy, both in lost investment in human capital, and lost future earnings. The State of the Environment

The British colonial administration did not prepare Fiji well for economic or administrative independence. Thus, while most land is held collectively, multinational companies control the economy through their dominance of the export-oriented fishing, forestry, mining and tourism industries. The government also faces difficulties in managing natural resources sustainably due to inadequate resources for effective policies, legislation and planning. As a result heritage and biodiversity values are diminishing and soil degradation is becoming a major problem in the marginal hill lands that are a potential agricultural resource base of the future. Pollution is entirely uncontrolled, especially around port areas, and is emerging as a serious problem. Plastic bags are an environmental plague and threaten marine life while solid waste management is failing to keep up with the production of waste. These problems reflect deficiencies in physical planning, compounded by significant urban drift that, in turn, is resulting in widespread informal development in peri-urban areas. The traditional, sustainable worldviews of both native and Indo-Fijian population seem to have been smothered by the integration of Fiji into the global economy. Environmental Education

Environment education is not a new concept in the Pacific. Since late 1970s, environmental education slowly entered the curriculum. The Ministry of Education (1992) states that: Like other subjects in the curriculum the environmental education component in the Fiji curriculum aims at providing basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes which pupils will need in order to function to some degree of compatibility in a physical and social environment that is not static and which may pose problems of varying natures and

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Many efforts have been made to infuse environmental education into existing curricula. However a review of environmental education in primary and secondary schools revealed a wide gap between the aspirations of the Ministry of Education and the reality in classrooms (Taylor, 1992). The National Environment Management Project (NEMP) commissioned a study to identify deficiencies in environmental education and to propose a strategy to resolve them. The following problems were identified: The curriculum does not emphasise marine and forest ecosystems; yet, these are two of the most important in Fiji. Recommended textbooks for environmental subjects such as biology and geography are written outside the Pacific region and therefore do not contain local or relevant material. The dominance of expository teaching methods fails to address desired behavioural changes in the students. However, change is underway. For example, from 1999, the syllabus for Year 8 (Form 2) Health Education requires the study of values education (20%), health (60%) and environmental education (20%). The Schools Broadcast Unit supports environmental education through weekly programmes for teachers, students and the general public. In addition, officers from the Department of Environment provide information about curriculum changes, resource availability, and special environmental events such as Arbor Day or Environment Week. THE FIJI STUDY

A study was undertaken in Fiji schools in 1997 to explore the knowledge, feelings, beliefs and values that prevail in our fifteen to sixteen year old students for the environment. Secondary schools selected were from Suva and Nausori, both areas with track records of high academic achievement. A fair percentage of students from these schools go to university and acquire jobs with decision-making capacities. Samples of six hundred students from seven different types of secondary schools were selected for the survey. The basic differences between these schools are the controlling authorities; either the Ministry of Education, Catholic Church, Hindu Education Committee or Business Committee respectively. Other differences include gender and the ethnic composition of the school. Focus group research was also conducted to identify the levels of environmental knowledge and attitudes of students in seven different schools. Personal, Social and Environmental Concerns

The young people expressed their hopes and fears for future, which reflected on the current social and economic situation of the country and how it will affect them

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personally. They hoped that in future jobs will be available, Fiji’s economy will improve, more educational opportunities are available and their culture is preserved. The respondents hoped that the two ethnic groups could be united to develop a better Fiji. One student said: I hope the future is harmonious, peaceful, no fights, people are tolerant to each other and also hope we can be one.

The participants feared that crime rates were increasing at an alarming rate, poverty was a common sight on our streets, there were lesser employment opportunities and that road deaths were more common due to an increase in the number of vehicles. Young people were aware of the recent corruption in National Bank of Fiji fraud case, the Fiji Ports Authority, the Housing Authority, the Public Trustees Office etc. These individualistic concerns still featured in the surveys when the young people were asked about the most important goals for Fiji. Their most important goals are those of reducing unemployment, protecting the environment and improving education standards. For most individual respondents the goals identified are linked. For example, responses that ranked reducing unemployment highly also did so for strengthening the economy as well as improving education standards. Goals that featured a lot from the all girls’ school were ‘protecting freedom of speech’ and ‘creating a fairer, more humane society’. This response truly reflects the Pacific culture in which women are expected to be subservient and show respect to elders, particularly males. When asked about environmental issues at national and global level, young people identified solid waste management as an important issue at the national level and deforestation at global level. However, the young people’s views are based on their own experiences and observations. The urban schools identified traffic congestion as a major problem because this is something they experience everyday. Rubbish is rated highly as a problem, which could be due to media coverage of the problem of finding an alternative dumpsite for the rubbish dump presently located outside the city of Suva. Air pollution is most probably linked to the traffic congestion that students have identified. The world ranking is probably best linked to ideas from students’ awareness of problems from media coverage and/or issues covered in subjects such as geography, chemistry and biology. Science students tend to identify ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect as major problems for the world whereas students of Arts identify soil erosion, overpopulation and deforestation as major problems. It is interesting that students did not identified damage to coastal waters and estuaries/inlets as a problem since this is increasingly becoming a major concern, especially for Pacific Island countries. This could be due to their lack of direct experience with this problem and the lack of coverage of marine topics in school. These findings were supported in the focus groups. The majority of young people identified personal experience as their major source of information: By observation, you can see and can become aware of the environment. For example after heavy rainfall the Rewa River is muddy, must be deforestation...

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Environmental Awareness and Knowledge The majority of the respondents saw the environment as their natural surroundings, including plants, trees, beautiful scenery and other things found in nature. After putting more thought to the question, they suggested ecosystems and animal habitats. Some saw environment as heritage or even as god’s gift to mankind. Generally the discussion indicated that participants were not part of the environment but that the environment was ‘out there’, away from them. Participants demonstrated a lack of depth in understanding the more complex inter-relationship between the different components of the physical, biological and social (cultural and economical) environment. They are aware of the physical component but not of other elements that make up the environment. A holistic perspective is necessary to integrate these components in such a way that people are seen as a central element (Porsch, 1993). The students were familiar with the majority of the environmental concepts, except sustainable development, biodiversity and precautionary principle (Table 11.1).

It is clear from the responses that most of these concepts were discussed in class. Key concepts such as carbon cycle, renewable resources and ecology are repetitively discussed in primary and secondary schools while the media often addresses the ozone layer. However, students were unfamiliar with the term biodiversity, which can be linked to Taylor’s findings in 1992 that there is little specific content on the marine and forest environment. However, it is interesting to note that the majority of the students were aware of the concept of ‘intergenerational equity’. This is a clear indication of societal values. The extended family system is part of the Indian culture, whereas communal living is part of the Fijian culture. The traditions and culture encourage cooperation rather than individualism. The value attached to the concept of intergenerational equity is something students experience at home or in their communities.

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Students’ knowledge of key environmental concepts was average. Most students answered 4 to 6 concepts correctly (Table 11.2).

When the focus groups were asked to explain in their own words, the causes of environmental problems they identified governments and individuals as contributors to environmental problems. They felt that people were ignorant, lazy and lacked initiative, awareness and knowledge, which contributed immensely to environmental problems. They felt that governments were unable to enforce laws and that legislation was too old and did not cover certain issues: When the boat sank, it was the government who cleaned the oil spills. Why? I read in the papers that there is not enough legislation.

During the discussion other interesting issues were raised. Students felt that people were concerned about the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Agreement (ALTA) and the constitution instead of the environment. As the focus groups agreed: Expiring of ALTA leases is a bigger problem over environmental matters.

The young people identified television, newspapers and school (in this order) as their most important sources of environmental information (Table 11.3). They felt that visual stimulation helps greatly in understanding environmental problems. However, the order of reliability of these sources was newspapers, school and television. School was not regarded as an important source of environmental information because environmental issues are predominantly taught in subjects like Biology and Geography as opposed to subjects like Accounting, Mathematics, English etc. However, parents and grandparents have assisted in providing information on traditional and cultural practices. Environmental Beliefs The majority of young people (60%) thought that environment needs be protected even if it means some reduction in economic growth. However, the majority of the students (70%) agreed that economic growth and healthy environment are possible provided there is community involvement at all levels. The majority of young people (67%) indicated a strong belief in the environmental paradigm. This could be as a result of Fiji’s traditional strong

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dependence on the natural environment for survival (food, herbal medicine and handicraft). About 23% of the students were undecided and very few students (10%) supported the technological paradigm even though many strongly believed that science and technology have improved their quality of life.

During the focus group interview young people reflected their deep concern for a clean, safe and healthy environment for future generations. When asked whether they had the power to help the environment, many young people answered, ‘no’ because they felt it would be difficult to change peoples’ attitudes. The young people felt that Fijians were lazy and lacked the necessary motivation to improve the state of their environment. They indicated that there was no community support and that funds were also needed to organize environmental activities. Environmental Actions Table 11.4 indicates that most students expressed a desire to get involved to improve their environment. About 41 per cent the young people felt that they did not have the power to help improve the environment because they lacked confidence, initiative and problem solving skills. Their comments truly reflected a culture where young people are not encouraged to ask questions because it is regarded as disrespectful to elders. Furthermore, the education system, with its traditional teacher centred approach, is used to teach environmental issues which curtails the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills that build confidence and develop initiative and the motivation to translate their concerns into action.

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However, most students (80%) indicated interest in: anti-campaign rallies such as signing petitions against nuclear testing clean up campaigns; and tree planting schemes. This response could be the result of school participation in Clean Up Fiji Day and Arbor Day organized by the government and some non-government organisations. This response also indicates a strong affinity for community participation, which is part of Fijian culture. Besides the three activities mentioned earlier, the majority of students (90%) did not participate in other activities to improve the environment. Some of the reasons for this which were expressed in the focus group, included the belief that their actions would not make much difference, that there are no practical alternatives, the cost involved and that control measures were ineffective and poorly enforced which affected motivation to take action. Education

This response links to what students see everyday around them or on the television or read in the newspapers. Media played an important role in raising awareness about issues such as oil spills, littering and smoke emissions from vehicles. Most students felt that environmental issues should be taught regularly (at least once a week) in schools. They felt that schools should focus on local issues rather than teach environmental issues because as part of a subject: It’s not the real thing. In chemistry we learn about ozone because it is an isotope of oxygen.

Although young people are taught about problems within the natural environment, both naturally occurring and human induced, there seems to be a limited focus on problems that are caused by social or economic factors. For example, in Fiji soil erosion on leased land has become a problem, as the farmers who lease the land do not feel responsible for its care. There is a need to provide a more holistic approach to sensitizing young people to the wide range of ecological and cultural problems.

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The research shows that the young people are more interested in environmental protection than in economic growth. They indicated a decided preference for the new environmental paradigm. This is supported by their acceptance of possible reduced economic growth in favour of an improvement in the environment. However their personal behaviour did not reflect this and very few students felt that science and technology had an adverse effect on their quality of life. The majority of the students indicated a desire to participate in environmental improvement. However they indicated a preference for community involvement over individual action. Large numbers of them had participated in clean up campaigns, Arbour day, and marching and signing petitions. This shows that Pacific traditions and culture encourage cooperation rather than individualism. The findings indicate that the students’ knowledge on key environmental concepts was satisfactory. However, students were unfamiliar with the term ‘biodiversity’, which can be linked to Taylor’s findings in 1992 that there is little specific content on the marine and forest environments. The findings also indicated that the schools were not providing enough local environmental information. This could be due to the fact that there is a strong emphasis on examinations in Fiji and it is common to teach based on what will be tested in exams. This reduces the likelihood of students exploring environmental concerns related to the tested subject matter. Certainly, environmental issues are taught as factual material to be learnt and later such knowledge is measured by tests. This ‘pencil and paper’ attitude has a greater influence on how environmental education is taught than the development of attitudes and skills that will lead to action- oriented individuals. The findings showed that about 41 per cent of the young people felt that they did not have the power to help the environment because they lacked confidence, initiative, and problem solving skills. One limitation of environmental education is that it is restricted to the cognitive domain and one has to move beyond knowledge to improve the environment. The real environmental problem however is, environmentally damaging behavior. It can be assumed that a lack of knowledge is a reason for damaging behavior. As environmental awareness continues to gain support in Fiji, it is hoped that environmental education will be included in teacher-training programmes. This will help to prepare teachers in knowledge and skills and instill the kind of innovative teaching styles that are required to bring about behavioral change in the students, and therefore translate environmental concern into action. REFERENCES Allen, P.S. (ed.) (1907). The cyclopedia of Fiji. Sydney: The Cyclopedia Company of Fiji. Baba, P. (1996). Mass migration sets new trends. Fiji Times. Fiji Government (1999) Fiji’s sustainable development bil. Suva: Government Printer. Farrell, B.H. and Murphy, P.E. (1978). Ethnic attitudes towards land in Fiji. Center for South Pacific Studies, University of California, 1-14.

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Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, Television and Telecommunications (2000). Fiji today. Suva: Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, Television & Telecommunications. Kumar, P. and Tagivakatini, S. (1996). Fiji country report: Challenges and responses to sustainable development in Fiji, unpublished paper presented at the UNESCO Asia- Pacific Regional Meeting, Brisbane. Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (1992). Environmental education in Fiji schools. Suva: CDU. Naidu, R. (1996). The exodus continues. The review: The news and business magazine of Fiji. May, 2229. Posch, P. (1993). Research issues in environmental education. Studies in science education, 21, 21-48. Taylor, N. (1992). Environmental education in Fiji: A report for the national environment management project. Suva: Institute of Education, University of the South Pacific. United Nations (1997). Fiji country statement, 19th Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Sustainable Development, New York. Watling, D. and Chape, S. (eds) (1993). The national environment strategy: Fiji. Gland: IUCN.

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AMY J. MALKUS AND JANA L. MEINHOLD

12 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road - the one 'less traveled by' - offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of our earth (Rachel Carson, 1962)

The United States is first and foremost a land of great diversity. Comprising 3,679,192 square miles, the United States is dominated by a vast interior lowland that rises to mountain ranges that divide it from the oceans on both sides. Within the 48 contiguous United States (all but Alaska and Hawaii) there is an extraordinary network of rivers and lakes that are among the largest and most useful water systems in the world. The contiguous United States lies entirely between the Tropic of Cancer and 50° North latitude. This results in a largely temperate climate that is marked by extremes ranging from about 49° C to -51° C. The land ranges from the Arctic to the subtropical, from the rainforest to the desert. Although the United States lacks extensive tropical rainforests, almost all other climatic regions are amply represented (Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, 2000). This climatic diversity, combined with the sheer size of the country, allows for a wide variety of plant and animal species to flourish. However many native species have been hunted almost to extinction (e.g., American bison), and habitats have been upset by deforestation, agriculture, and development. An average of one or two species becomes extinct per year. As of 1997, 335 animals and 523 plants were on the endangered species list, and another 111 animals and 111 plants were on the list of threatened species (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1997). According to 1990 census data, the population of the United States is 250 million, and is the most widely diverse of any nation in the world. America is a land of immigrants, with only American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts being truly native to the country. The first wave of settlers arrived in the early 1600s, primarily from England, Ireland, and Germany. These groups formed a dominant culture that was largely white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant. Later waves of immigration brought in large numbers of southern Europeans, Irish Catholics, Asians, and Hispanics. Blacks were first brought to this country under conditions of slavery. Recent immigrants have come primarily from the Philippines, the former Soviet Union, Mexico, the 139 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 139—150. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Dominican Republic, India, China, and Vietnam, with 720,500 immigrants arriving in 1995 alone. America’s culturally diverse society reflects its immigrant history. The ethnic/racial background of America’s population consists of five main categories: White (73.1%), Black (12.0%), Hispanic (10.7%), Asian (3.5%), and Native American (0.7%). The current U.S. population is mainly urban, with 80% living in metropolitan areas. The population is also predominantly Christian (83%) and well educated, with 48.1% reporting some education beyond the secondary level (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1997). INFLUENCES ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT

Cultural Attitudes

In a recent study of environmental values in America, Kempton, Boster, and Hartley (1995) concluded that Americans’ environmental values derive largely from three main sources: religion, anthropocentric (human-centred) values, and biocentric (living-thing-centred) values. They make the assertion that environmentalism has become integrated with such core American values as parental responsibility, obligation to descendants, and traditional religious teaching. In addition, the study made clear that while many Americans are looking to technology for help and answers, they are not putting blind faith in science and technology to solve environmental problems. Finally, they claim that current environmental values in the U.S. represent a major change in how our culture conceives of the relationship between humanity and nature, and state that this change has occurred with amazing speed, largely in the four decades since the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Land Management

Land is tremendously important in the United States. It nurtures its citizens spiritually, financially, and physically. However, contradictory views of land usage in the United States - ‘land as resource’ versus ‘land as commodity’ - have resulted in both caretaking and abuse of the land. When European settlers first arrived they found what seemed to be a limitless land base. The notion of the American frontier, fervent resistance to anything other than local control, and fierce belief in private property rights have persisted throughout the country’s history. In somewhat of a paradox, the federal government has been largely responsible for determining land management. Currently about 32 per cent of the nation’s lands are owned by the federal government. Throughout much of the early history of the United States, ecological land-use planning was nonexistent. In the late 1800s, the first national parks and forests were designated. However, it was not until the 1960s and 1970s that the proliferation of land use controls began. During this period, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was formed, and local, state, and federal

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governments began enacting more stringent land use controls (Mason & Mattson, 1990). Government and Institutional Responses Perhaps the most important U.S. government initiative relative to the environment was the founding of the U.S. EPA in 1970. The White House and Congress established the EPA in response to growing public demand for cleaner air, water, and land. Today, more than 17,000 people work at the EPA in a variety of programs that have as their core mission the protection of human health and the environment (http://www.epa.gov). Since the founding of the EPA 30 years ago, the United States has made environmental progress. Citizens now breathe cleaner air, drink cleaner water, and have less exposure to toxic compounds than they did three decades ago. However, there are still a number of environmental challenges facing the U.S., including: Continued failure to meet air quality standards in many metropolitan areas; Increased emissions of nitrogen oxides (up 14% since 1970); Rivers, lakes, and estuaries that are not clean enough to meet basic uses (40%); Continued loss of wetlands (70,000 to 90,000 acres per year); and Increase in solid-waste production, up one-third to 4.4 pounds per person per day (http://www.epa.gov). Additionally, the USA is struggling to deal with the issue of greenhouse gas emissions. As a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States, along with other countries, set a voluntary target of stabilizing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000. United States emissions, however, have increased each year since 1991 (Reid & Goldemberg, 1997). Recent figures indicate that the total USA. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose in 1997 to 1,813.6 million metric tons of carbon equivalents, with the largest source of U.S. GHG emissions from carbon dioxide, resulting from fossil fuel combustion. This accounted for 81 per cent of weighted emissions in 1997 (http://www.epa.gov). Media Treatment of the Environment The media is the most popular sources of environmental information for Americans. Virtually all homes (98%) in the USA have at least one TV set, and Americans watch an average of 1,575 hours of television per person per year (USA Bureau of the Census, 1997). Every day, environmental programs and news concerning environmental issues are available to almost the entire USA population. In addition there are numerous cable TV channels (e.g. Discovery Channel, Animal Planet) that devote a substantial portion of their programming to the environment. Another media source of environmental information in the United States is the Internet. In 1997, almost 32 million American adults reported some Internet usage

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(USA Bureau of the Census, 1997). While it is not known how many Americans use the Internet to access environmental information, the resources are certainly at the disposal of many. On-line environmental news services (e.g. Greenwire) provide daily information on leading environmental stories. In addition environmental NGOs (e.g. Sierra Club) have their own web sites, as well as government organizations such as the EPA. The quantity of environmental information available on-line is reflective of what is available in the print media, which offers coverage of environmental issues in magazines such as National Geographic, Time, and Newsweek, and in local and national newspapers. Environmental Education

The EPA is also responsible for overseeing another major government initiative: the National Environmental Education Act that was signed into law in November 1990. This Act gives the EPA a government mandate to strengthen and expand environmental education. In addition, Congress also created the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF) under the Act to encourage public-private partnerships that support environmental education (http://www.epa.gov). In the U.S., environmental education occurs in both formal (e.g., school) and informal settings (e.g., programs run by nature centers, parks, and zoos). Formal environmental education may occur for children as young as two and may continue through college-level courses. There is an overwhelming desire of parents (96%) to have environmental education taught in the schools (NEETF, 1997). However, despite the overwhelming public support for environmental education, its incorporation into school curricula is uneven, and is often not a priority for educators. In 1996, only 11 states (out of 50) had a master plan for environmental education, and only two states required that environmental education be taught. Only three states required college students who are preparing to be teachers to take environmental education courses (National Environmental Education Advisory Council, 1996). The United States Study

Participants for the United States survey were 848 adolescents (377 males; 469 females; 2 unknown) ages 14 to 18 years old (M = 15.9 years) from academically achieving high schools located in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Los Angeles, California. Schools were selected from three different states to allow for more diverse ethnic representation (Asian = 11.1%, Black = 4.7%, Hispanic = 7.9%, white = 69.8%, Other = 6.5%). All sophomores (Grade 10) and juniors (Grade 11) in these schools were invited to participate. Students were primarily high achieving, with most reporting grade point averages of As (47%) or Bs (42%). Over a sixmonth period in 1999-2000, researchers administered the 142-item USA.Version of the Young People and the Environment survey in these three high schools. For a

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more detailed description of the sampling strategy, measure, and procedure used in this study, see Pursley (2000). Societal and Environmental Goals for the United States and the World

Students were asked to rank 11 societal goals for the United States as either their first, second, third, or fourth choice, and to rank all other goals as not in the top four choices. Results indicate that for students' top choice (first place ranking), the most important societal goals for America are: 1. Preventing war and nuclear threats, 2. Protecting the environment, and 3. Improving education (see Table 12.1). It should be noted that as the United States is currently experiencing a strong economy, low levels of unemployment, and an extended period of peace, it is not surprising that goals such as strengthening the economy (ranked 7th), reducing unemployment (9th), and building strong armies (11th) ranked relatively low.

When asked to similarly rank 12 environmental issues facing America today, the issue that students ranked as most important was destruction of the ozone layer. This was followed closely by air pollution and overpopulation. It is interesting to note that despite the fact that all the students in this sample lived on the West Coast (Pacific Ocean) in areas of high traffic congestion, traffic and damage to coastal waters ranked lowest of all concerns (11th and 12th respectively). Results were not all that different when students were asked to rank the most important global environmental issues. Overpopulation (1) and destruction of the ozone layer (2) were still at the top of the list, although deforestation (3) replaced air pollution among the top three concerns. See Table 12.2 for rankings of environmental issues for the United States and the world.

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Environmental Beliefs The New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) is considered an emerging worldview presented by Dunlap and Van Liere (1978). Individuals who believe in a steady-state economy, that there are limits to growth, and who strive for a balance with nature are in alignment with the NEP. Those who have faith in science and technology, who believe in abundance and progress, that nature exists for human use, and who are committed to a laissez-faire economy are in alignment with the Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP).

Items on the NEP were scored from -2 (most DSP) to 0 (neutral) to +2 (most NEP). The results in Table 12.3 show that more than two-thirds of all students hold beliefs consistent with the environmental paradigm, with 28 per cent holding very strong environmental beliefs. By contrast, only a small percentage of students are in alignment with a technological paradigm. If the four questions related to terchnology are excluded, support for the NEP is even stronger. Environmental Awareness and Knowledge Knowledge was measured in two different ways for this study. First students rated their overall familiarity with 11 different environmental concepts on a scale of 0 (never heard) to 2 (discussed in both home and school), with a score of 1 indicating that students had discussed the concept either at home or at school. Scores on each item were summed, with total scores ranging from 0-22. The average score was 10.5 indicating students have a moderate overall awareness of environmental concepts

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More than half the students were aware of 8 of the 11 concepts, including a strong awareness of the concepts of ozone layer, greenhouse effect, and ecology. Students have limited awareness of the concepts of intergenerational equity and the precautionary principle, two terms that do not seem to be in common usage in the United States. They also have less awareness of the concept of sustainable development, a term which is just beginning to come into more general use in this country (see Table 12.4).

Students' environmental knowledge was also assessed with an 11 question environmental test. Items were scored as either 1 (correct) or 0 (incorrect) and covered many of the same concepts that were covered in the familiar knowledge section. Scores on each item were summed, and total scores on the test ranged from 0 to 11; the average student score was 6.07, the equivalent of a failing grade (55%) on the test. Students' level of environmental knowledge is only moderate (see Table 12.5).

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Environmental Action

The majority of students rated their desire to improve the environment as strong (37.5%), followed by 30.7 per cent who rated their desire as medium, while another 23.7% rated their desire as very strong. Only a small percentage (8.2%) rated their desire to improve the environment as weak or very weak. Students were also fairly confident about the skills and knowledge that they held concerning making environmental improvements, with most students rating their skill level as moderate (46.7%) or high (34.2%). Only a small percentage rated their skill level as low (10.6%) or at the extremes of very high (7.1%) or very low (1.4%). More than half of all students (61.7%) reported having taken a deliberate action to improve the environment. However, it is possible that this figure is somewhat low, as 85.5 per cent of students reported engaging in recycling when asked about their environmental participation on a list of 10 possible actions (see Table 12.6). Students were asked to rate these 10 actions as either 2 (have done this), 1 (would consider doing) or 0 (would not consider doing). Scores on the items were summed and ranged from 0 to 20, with an average score of 11.25. The large numbers of students who report engaging in recycling behaviors is not surprising, considering that many communities on the West Coast have instituted curbside recycling programs. This practice had become quite widespread in the past decade, and recycling is now as much a part of many peoples' lives as taking out the trash. Other popular actions were consumer-oriented behaviors (choosing environmentally friendly products) and conservation (reducing water consumption) and clean-up efforts (anti-litter campaigns). Less popular actions involved more political activities, such as donating to environmental groups, attending meetings, and filing complaints about the environment. Considering actions as a whole, most students (70.5%) reported moderate levels of participation in environmental activities (scores of 8 to 14). Only 13.9% of students reported low levels (scores of 0 to 7) of participation, and only 15.6% reported very strong (scores of 15 to 20) environmental participation.

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Students were also asked to report on 12 possible reasons why they think they engage in environmentally unfriendly behavior. Top choices include: 18.0% I don’t understand what is harmful and what is not I don't have the time 17.3% 16.6% It's easier not to worry about the environment I don't think my actions will make much difference 14.5% As illustrated, students report a wide variety of reasons why they engage in environmentally harmful behavior, although the number one reason (I don't understand what is harmful) is important to note for its implications for environmental education, particularly in light of students' scores on the environmental knowledge test. Sources of Environmental Information

School and television were the major sources of environmental information for U.S. adolescents. By contrast, friends, and government environmental organizations were the least popular sources of information. The ranking of the reliability of these sources showed some inconsistencies. For example, despite the fact that government environmental agencies were ranked near the bottom as a source, students ranked them as among the most reliable. On the whole, though, students ranking of

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reliability matched their rankings of sources of environmental information. See Table 12.7 for the sources of students' environmental information, and their assessment of the reliability of those sources.

Education Only 5.6% of students report talking on a regular (once a week) basis about environmental issues outside of school. Most (57.6%) report discussing environmental issues only sometimes (several times a year) outside of class. Only 15.2% report talking about environmental issues often, while 21.6% report never discussing environmental issues outside of school. Given the lack of discussion outside the school setting, it is perhaps not surprising that students indicated a great interest in environmental issues being taught in the classroom. Most students report that they would like to discuss environmental issues in class often (at least once a month - 44.0%), or sometimes (several times a year - 34.5%). Another 18.1% would like to have environmental education regularly (at least once per week). Only 3.5% say that they would never like to discuss environmental issues in school. CONCLUSION The United States survey builds and expands upon previous surveys with adults (NEETF, 1997, 1996) and adolescents (NEETF, 1994) by providing a more in-depth examination of the environmental attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors of tomorrow's leaders: today's high achieving adolescents. Findings indicate a high level of enthusiasm for the environment, strong pro-environmental attitudes and alignment with the New Environmental Paradigm, combined with moderate levels of environmental action and low levels of actual concrete environmental knowledge. This is consistent with previous research with adults that has found that while the public's concern about the environment is high, environmental knowledge is low and has changed little over the past few years (NEETF, 1996). This gap between

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concern, knowledge, and involvement is one that environmental education programs seek to address. It is clear that students believe they know more about the environment than they actually do, as indicated by the gap between students' familiar knowledge and their actual knowledge. The discrepancy between what is believed to be known versus what is known is particularly important for environmental education programs to address. NEETF (1997) reports that misinformation about the environment may be as much of a problem as lack of knowledge, and impedes policy-makers' ability to address some of our most complex environmental problems. Additionally, it is important to note that students ranked not understanding what is harmful to the environment as their number one reason for engaging in environmentally unfriendly behavior. This indicates that at least some students are aware of their lack of knowledge, and (hopefully) want to do something about it. It is encouraging to note that most students are interested in having environmental issues taught in schools, at least several times a year, and the majority of students would like to see environmental issues discussed at least once a month or more in their schools. This is in keeping with the overwhelming desire of parents (96%) to have environmental education taught in the schools (NEETF, 1997). However, despite the overwhelming public support for environmental education, its incorporation into school curricula is uneven, and is often not a priority for educators. The important role that environmental educators must take on in U.S. schools is clearly demonstrated by the findings of this study. The need exists for improved levels of environmental knowledge among adolescents of today and tomorrow, and the good news is that the foundation of motivation, concern, and enthusiasm appears to be in place, waiting to be built upon. The opportunity is there for improving the environment both locally, and through the education of these future leaders of the United States, and the world. REFERENCES Carson, R. (1962). Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Dunlap, R. E., and Van Liere, K. D. (1978). The new environmental paradigm. Journal of Environmental Education, 9 (4), 10-19. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (assessed July 23, 2000). Available on line at URL: http://members.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=121244&sctn=1&pm=1 Kempton, W., Boster, J. S., and Hartley, J. A. (1995). Environmental values in American culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Mason, R. J., and Mattson, M. T. (1990). Atlas of United States environmental issues. New York: Macmillan. National Environmental Education Advisory Council of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Education Division (1996). Report assessing environmental education in the United States and the implementation of the National Environmental Education Act of 1990. Washington, DC. National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (1997). The national report card on environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors: The sixth annual survey of adult Americans. New York: Roper Starch Worldwide.

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National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (1996). Report card: Environmental attitudes and knowledge in America: The fifth annual survey of adult Americans. New York: Roper Starch Worldwide. National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (1994). Environmental attitudes and behaviors of American youth: With an emphasis on youth from disadvantaged areas. New York: Roper Starch Worldwide. Pursley, J. L. (2000). An examination of the relationship between adolescent self-efficacy and environmental behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes, unpublished master's thesis, Washington State University, Pullman. Reid, W. V., & Goldemberg, J. (July 1997). Are developing countries already doing as much as industrialized countries to slow climate change?. World Resource Institute On-line. Available on – line at URL: http://www.wri.org/wri/cpi/notes/cntrydev.html. U.S. Bureau of the Census (1997). Statistical abstract of the United States: 1997 (117th ed.). Washington, DC.

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13 SYNTHESIS: A CROSS-CULTURAL REFLECTION

This chapter provides a synthesis of the findings of the studies of youth environmental attitudes presented in previous chapters. These chapters had two aims. The first was to explore the cultural, educational and other influences on the environmental attitudes of young people in each country. The second was to review the findings of survey and focus group research into three aspects of the young people’s environmental attitudes in each country: environmental awareness and knowledge; environmental concerns and beliefs; and environmental behaviour. This chapter presents a summary of the findings across the countries concerned. Based on these findings, the chapter concludes with a set of questions to guide the development of environmental education in the Asia-Pacific region. THE REGIONAL CONTEXT It is not an easy task to explore environmental attitudes of young people in different societies. The various countries in the research have different cultural traditions – and many subcultures – that affect the formation of environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. Thus, the first research task for the researchers in each country was to analyse the environmental, social, educational, economic, political and media influences that have contributed to environmental thinking in their countries and to analyse how these may be impacting on the experiences of young people. Many indications of these influences have been described in the individual country chapters. The influence of broad themes such as religion and indigenous culture are also very important, and have been analysed in depth in Environment, Education and Society in the Asia-Pacific: Local Traditions and Global Discourse (Yencken, Fien and Sykes, 2000). Despite these cultural differences, it is possible to identify at least three common themes in the cultural background reports presented in previous chapters: traditions of stewardship and care for the environment; the pressures leading to the environmental conditions in each country; and the variety of responses being made. There are long traditions of responsibility and care for the environment in every country involved in the research. For example, nature is seen as an all-encompassing 151 John Fien, David Yencken and Helen Sykes (eds), 151—171. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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reality in India and, although nature is approached through humanity, Indian culture sees all living things as sacred and to be worshipped. This is common across the three great Indian religious traditions, Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Reflecting these long standing concerns, India has included the protection and improvement of the environment in its constitution. It was the first country in the world to do so. The Islamic tradition, reflected in countries such as Brunei, in parts of India, Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries in the region, stresses a relationship of stewardship rather than mastery of nature with the Quran requiring people looked after and protect God’s creation. The same world view is found in the environmental ethic of the many indigenous groups in the region. The main cultural traditions of China (Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism) advocate respect for nature. Christian religions also advocate stewardship of the environment and care for other living things. In all or nearly all these traditions there are, however, countervailing traditions. In Christianity, for example, the belief that God created people in his own image and gave humans dominion over the earth has often been discussed as a source of western disregard for the environment. There are similar tensions in other religions and these give rise both to environmental respect and disregard on different occasions. The Confucian principles of reciprocity and balance mean that the Chinese have traditionally perceived the world as unity or balance of conflicting opposites. Religion is furthermore but one of the factors influencing environmental beliefs in the countries of the region. There are many other forces. The effects of colonial rule in many countries cannot be disregarded. Economic restructuring has replaced locally oriented systems of agriculture and small-scale industry with mass production techniques of plantation agriculture. This has often undermined local industries, alienated many from their rural traditions and catalysed a ‘drift’ to the cities that has later become a ‘flood’ and resulted in the air, water, housing and traffic problems of today’s megacities of Asia. Following political independence, the countries of the region remained integrated into the global economy as sources of inexpensive raw materials and factory labour. The extraction of resources such as timber and fish has led to many extinctions and increased local poverty while industrial growth has often been fostered with little concern for pollution control and labour rights. As a result, all countries in the region – rich or poor – are beset by many social and environmental problems, and all contribute to threats and damage to the global environment. Environmental conditions in Asia and the Pacific are becoming increasingly well-documented, as was described in Chapter 1. The social and economic costs of environmental degradation in the region are also very high. The resultant spiral of environmental decline and lost social and economic opportunities are reflected in the broad patterns of inequality across the region. Despite being home to some of the world’s largest and fastest growing economies, the Asia-Pacific region is also one of great poverty. The acute impact of the 1997 economic collapse in the region is evidence of the precarious nature of the last three decades of development efforts. The previous chapters provide examples of the ways in which these problems are being played out in national and local contexts. They also indicate the ways in which

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local traditions of environmental care are being reinforced by global discourses that have seen increasing action by governments, the media, non-governmental organisations and other citizen groups to redress environmental deterioration. Increasing levels of public concern about the environment were noted in all the chapters. These chapters also indicated that education has been identified as a critical way of addressing environmental concerns across the region. The country reports pointed to the many different ways in which education systems have been responding to the challenges posed by the descending spiral of unsustainable development. These include: the development of curriculum guidelines and new teaching materials, the revision of syllabuses to infuse an environmental perspective, the adoption of wholeschool approaches to curriculum planning for environmental education, and the establishment of specialised environmental education centres. In no country, however, was there any clear evidence that these collective responses have been adequate to stop the continuing deterioration of the environment, although there are some promising partial achievements in most countries. Singapore and Japan are good examples. RESEARCH RESULTS: A SYNTHESIS

Despite some significant differences, the previous chapters reveal striking similarities in the patterns of findings across countries and cultures. These patterns are summarised here under three broad headings: environmental awareness and knowledge, environmental beliefs and environmental actions. Awareness and Knowledge Awareness of Environmental Issues Levels of environmental awareness were gauged by asking students to identify what they believed to be key issues facing their countries and the world, and then by asking them how familiar they were with a set of environmentally related concepts. Student perceptions of the importance of different environmental issues were gauged by asking them to select four they believed to be the most pressing from a list of twelve, including: household rubbish and garbage; soil erosion and land degradation; water pollution; cutting down of forests; damage to the ozone layer; the greenhouse effect; overpopulation; the generation of toxic wastes; endangered animals and plants; traffic congestion; air pollution; and damage to coastal waters and inlets. They were asked to do this (i) for their own country and (ii) for the world as a whole. Table 13.1 is a summary of the answers from each country. Table 13.1 shows that young people in different countries are concerned about different issues at the national level although the prominence of household rubbish, deforestation and air pollution across many in many countries, and population concerns in India and China, should be noted. There was much more commonality of views about global issues. Students in almost every country ranked damage to the

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ozone layer as the most important environmental problem for the world with deforestation and overpopulation also very significant. The Greenhouse Effect was frequently ranked fourth some way behind the first three. The least important issues to the students, both nationally and globally, were damage to coastal waters and inlets, traffic congestion, soil erosion and land degradation and water pollution.

The high priority given to household rubbish as a national issue compared with other issues is worthy of comment. No doubt there are important issues related to household rubbish perceived by young people in the countries where it is given highest ranking. Perhaps, however, questions may need to be asked about the factors that lead young people in these countries to think that household rubbish poses greater threats to human health and the environment than air and water pollution, other toxic emissions, loss of forests and biodiversity and the like. Knowledge of Environmental Concepts Students were also asked about whether they had ever heard of a number of environmental concepts and, if so, had they ever discussed them in class. Table 13.2

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and Table 13.3 show the answers to these questions. Table 13.2 identifies the concepts for which there were relatively high levels of awareness and class discussion. These were: Greenhouse Effect, Ozone layer, Renewable resources, Ecology, Carbon cycle and Interdependence. The country background studies reveal that these concepts figured prominently in school syllabuses and/or media treatment of the environment in almost every country involved. The converse is true of the concepts listed in Table 13.3. There was little media or syllabus coverage and correspondingly low levels of awareness and class discussion of concepts such as sustainable development, carrying capacity, biodiversity, intergenerational equity and precautionary principle. While not a surprising finding, the contrasts between Tables 13.2 and 13.3 do indicate that syllabus and media treatment of the environment does matter. Indeed, as Table 13.7 shows, these are the two most frequent sources of environmental information for young people. This conclusion is all the more significant when examined in the light of Tables 13.4 and 13.5. These tables reflect a similar pattern of scores as Tables 13.2 and 13.3, and thus indicate that awareness and class discussion translates into a high level of ability to identify correct definitions of environmental concepts. Table 13.6 shows the percentage of correct responses to the definitions and the range of scores in each of the countries in the study.

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Sources of Environmental Information Table 13.7 shows that young people in all countries report that they receive most of their environmental information from the media (television, newspapers and radio) and from schools. However there are differences in assessments of the reliability of these sources. Television and newspapers are considered more reliable than radio in all countries. Newspapers are considered more reliable than television in Australia, Hong Kong, India, and Singapore while it is the reverse in Brunei, Guangzhou, and Thailand. These differences no doubt reflect different assessments of the quality of reporting in these two forms of media. Particularly notable is the generally high level of

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reliability accorded to environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) across most countries in the region.

The assessments of the reliability of information received from school and government are also of interest. While most countries responses are generally clustered together, Indian and Singaporean students assessed schools as much more reliable while Japanese students assessed schools as much less reliable than the general mean. Singaporean and Hong Kong students also assessed government sources as much more reliable while Indian and Japanese students considered government sources much less reliable than the mean. Environmental Beliefs

Several questions were asked about environmental beliefs. The students were first asked about the relative importance of the environment compared with other issues in order to gauge the nature and intensity of their environmental beliefs. Tables 13.8 and 13.9 summarise the students’ responses when asked whether they believed that: their country should ‘concentrate on economic development even if it meant some damage to the environment’ or ‘ concentrate on protecting the environment even if it meant some reduction in economic growth’ (responses are shown in Table 13.8); and ‘economic growth is bound to be at the expense of the environment’ or ‘it is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment’ (responses are shown in Table 13.9).

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These tables shows that there is overwhelming support for protecting the environment even if it means some reduction in economic growth. Even in Hong Kong and Brunei where support for protecting the environment is lowest, it is still nearly twice the support for economic growth. Similarly, a large majority of students in nearly all countries believes that it is quite possible have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. The one exception is Japan where many more Japanese than other respondents believe that economic growth is bound to be at the expense of the environment. Interestingly, while environmental belief scores in Japan are amongst the highest in the region, the scores on environmental knowledge and actions of Japanese students were among the lowest. Over 50 per cent of

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Japanese students, together with those from South China, also believe that a radical restructuring of society is needed to solve environmental problems. Data are not available to help interpret these findings, but they pose questions about the relationship between these aspects of environmental attitudes and faith in the capacity of society to solve present and future problems. Environmental beliefs were also sought through an analysis of the extent to which the young people in each country held to technological or environmentally supportive beliefs. The survey asked the students to identify their views about twelve pairs of questions related to beliefs about nature, people-nature relationships, limits to growth, and science and technology. They did this by selecting a position along a five point scale ranging from the most technologically oriented (and least environmentally supportive) to the most environmentally supportive (and least technologically oriented). The composite scores of students in each country were then coded into three groups, as shown in Table 13.10.

These results show that there is strong support for environmental beliefs (the environmental paradigm) compared to beliefs in continuing development and resource use (the previously dominant social paradigm) in every country. Twelve pairs of questions were used to explore environmental and technological beliefs. Of these twelve, four directly related to the role of technology and the remaining eight to environmental beliefs. If the findings from the four pairs of questions exploring beliefs about technology are excluded, there is even more dramatic support for the environmental paradigm. A very large majority of respondents in every country agreed with all the following propositions rather than their opposites: Despite our special abilities, humans are subject to the laws of nature. People should adapt to the environment whenever possible. Natural resources should be saved for the benefit of future generations. Modern industrial countries are very seriously disturbing the balance of nature. The earth is like a spaceship with limited room and resources. People must learn to live in harmony with nature in order to survive.

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Environmental protection should be given priority over economic growth. Even when asked whether ‘nature should be used to provide goods for people’ or ‘preserved for its own sake’, there was much stronger support for preserving nature for its own sake than for the anthropocentric and utilitarian view that nature should be used to provide goods for people. Related to technology, most young people thought that science and technology have improved our quality of life and more felt that modern technology has increased our freedom and independence than reduced it. When, however, the questions turned to the future there was much greater ambivalence about the likelihood of science and technology creating problems or being risky rather than always finding answers and becoming risk free. Views here were fairly evenly balanced. Only in Guangzhou were the majority of young people optimistic about the future benign role of science and technology Environmental Actions

Young people were asked to rate their desire to improve the environment. Table 13.11 shows a strong desire to improve the environment among young people in every country.

The young people were also asked to rate their skills and knowledge to bring about environmental improvements even if in only a small way. The highest response in all countries was a medium ranking. Many more respondents, however, rated their skills as high than those who rated their skills as low. Young people were asked if they had taken a number of different actions in the previous twelve months. The responses are shown in Tables 13.12A and 13.12B.

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The patterns of actions are quite varied. The most frequent actions taken in many countries are choosing household products that are better for the environment, recycling and reusing and reducing water consumption. In others, young people say that they have taken part in clean up campaigns. Few young people in any of the countries write letters, sign petitions, attend meetings or make complaints. These are also the actions which they most frequently state that they would not consider taking. In all countries except Japan a majority of respondents state that they have taken some deliberate action to improve the environment. In Japan only 35% of

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respondents state that they have taken any deliberate action. Across all the countries, of those that have taken a deliberate action only a very few state that they regretted or only felt OK about taking the action. A large majority of respondents (between 70% and 94%) in all countries state that they feel positive or really good about their actions. The strongest support for these actions comes from others involved, followed by teachers and then immediate families. Stated support from teachers varies greatly. The highest support is in Guangzhou, Brisbane and Melbourne. The lowest support is in New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong and Brunei. Guangzhou students report the highest level of support from all sources. Noting that most people do things that are damaging to the environment, young people were asked what they thought were the reasons for the actions they took that were bad for the environment. The responses are shown in Tables 13.13A and 13.13B. Young people in all countries offered many different reasons for their environmentally unfriendly behaviour. Very few, however, said that they did not believe what people say about environmental damage. Very few also said that they were not interested in taking actions to protect the environment. The two exceptions are Japan and Hong Kong where one third of Japanese students and a quarter of Hong Kong students said that they were not interested. The two most important reasons offered by students for their environmentally unfriendly behaviour were that their actions would not make a difference and that they felt that there was no practical alternative even when they knew that what they did was wrong. Student comments about ways of protecting the environment during the approximately 60 focus group interviews that were conducted supported these views about environmental action. While a very wide range of comments were made across the different countries, there were a number of recurring themes. Generally, the young people said that they would like to do more for the environment but believed that they did not have the knowledge, experience and confidence to do something. In fact, the ignorance and attitudes of individuals were seen as a major problem. Domestic activities such as recycling were often the only types of actions that the young people across the regions said that they take. Instead, they were looking to government and business to do more by setting examples in their own activities, by enforcing and increasing environmental regulations, and by making environmentally friendly products more accessible and less expensive. However, few saw a role for themselves in trying to influence public opinion or government actions through even the mildest of lobbying activities such as writing a letter to a newspaper or politician or attending a public meeting.

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CONCLUSIONS

Many different cultural traditions, environmental situations and educational responses have been described in this book. The richness and diversity of these traditions and the many ways in which they embody notions of stewardship of nature are very striking, although judgements about the relative strengths of such traditions in different countries and the adequacy of policy and educational responses are, of course, difficult to make. However, despite the individual differences, there are remarkably consistent pattern in the findings about the environmental awareness, knowledge, beliefs and

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behaviour of young people across the region. These findings have important implications for environmental education policy and curriculum development. First, as might be expected, awareness and knowledge of individual environmental concepts varies considerably. Nevertheless it could be said that there is at least some awareness in every country of all the concepts discussed in the research. These concepts included, the carbon cycle, sustainable development, biodiversity, renewable resources, ecology, intergenerational equity, the precautionary principle, the greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion and carrying capacity. Even intergenerational equity and the precautionary principle, the least known concepts, were known to at least 20 per cent of students in all countries for which data was available and to many more in some countries. Second, the young people recognised environmental problems as real and significant and were knowledgeable and concerned about a wide range of local, national and global problems. However, questions can be asked about the depth of understanding that lies beneath these high levels of awareness. For example, the destruction of the ozone layer was seen as the most important environmental issue facing the world in every country. Yet, this is one of the very few global problems that international action seems to have solved, although recovery to pre-1980 levels is not expected until around 2050. Probing this situation might lead to several questions. Are students’ misunderstandings due to incomplete teaching, inadequate educational resources or, perhaps, the tendency for environmental courses to focus on problems rather than solutions and success stories? Third, environmental beliefs are widely shared by young people across all countries despite differences in local cultural traditions, environmental situations and education systems. The great majority of students in all the countries in the study expressed strongly environmentally supportive views and beliefs. It could therefore be said that young people in all countries have moved decisively towards the adoption of an environmental paradigm. Interestingly, the young people generally believed that while protecting the environment is more important than economic growth, it is possible to have both a healthy environment and a prosperous economy. However, they do not seem to have a sound understanding of the relationships between social, economic and institutional frameworks, and ecological degradation and sustainability. This may be because the young people in every country said that the media, particularly television, was their major source of environmental information, followed by schools, whose contribution was often regarded as more reliable but also more boring. Increased attention to the humanities (especially media literacy) and the social sciences (especially ecological economics) may be appropriate ways of developing the concepts and skills needed to address this problem. Fourth, individual actions to protect the environment vary greatly within and between countries. However there is a clear pattern on at least one point: in all countries other than Japan at least half of the students claim to have taken some action to protect the environment. Even in Japan a third of the students say that they have taken some action. The nature of the actions taken is also similar – domestic actions such as recycling predominate. The question that needs to be asked about this finding is ‘Why is the figure so low, especially when the young people said that

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they usually felt good when they took such actions?’ Perhaps, it is because the vast majority of students felt that they did not know much about what they could do and did not have faith in social institutions to support their actions. Indeed, the knowledge that young people seem to have about the environment is mainly propositional in nature, rather than procedural; ie it is ‘knowledge about the environment’ rather than ‘knowledge how to work for the environment’. This situation might help explain the ambivalence between the young people’s high levels of expressed concern and their general lack of willingness to change personal lifestyles or take other actions to protect the environment. This gives rise to a fifth important conclusion from the research: school curricula need to change so that young people explore the many possible ways in which current systems can change to support sustainability, in which current lifestyles reflect these systems, and in which their own actions can contribute to a sustainable future. At the very least, a much better understanding of the nature of the problems and their likely solutions might be achieved and, in this way, some of the pessimism and negativity expressed by the young people might be dissipated. As we said in the companion volume, Environment, Education and Society: Local Traditions and Global Discourses in the Asia Pacific: They especially need to be shown that there are pathways out of our current predicament. They need to be shown how prevailing norms and systems can adapt.... They need to be shown how small changes can lead to larger changes. Those that would like to participate actively in such changes need to be shown how they can do so effectively. They especially need to be given hope. They also cry out for leadership. (Yencken, Fien and Sykes 2000, p. 250)

Implications for Environmentalism

The research has a number of implications for environmentalism, here defined to mean effective action to prevent continuing degradation of the environment globally and locally. Faced with the pressures of economic growth, inappropriate industrial and agricultural practices and resource consuming lifestyles, local traditions of respect for nature have nowhere been adequate to prevent continuing degradation. As a consequence, in every country in the region there is evidence of serious environmental damage. Recognition of these problems has, however, been growing and governments and business have begun to act. There have been some significant achievements. Some of the more impressive documented in our research have been in countries such as Japan and Singapore. However Japan’s successes at home have not been matched by comparable concern and action to prevent environmental impacts caused by its enterprises in other places and there remains much to be done in every country to curb local impacts and reduce contributions to damage to the global commons. The United Nations Environment Programme’s observation that ‘progress towards a global sustainable future is just too slow’ and that ‘a sense of urgency is lacking’ applies to very country in the region (UNEP 1997 p.3).

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To deal with these problems, many of which are particularly acute in the Asia Pacific region, it is clear that changes of all kinds are needed which depend upon local and global thinking and local and global acting. Local thinking is needed to draw upon local knowledge and traditions of care for nature. Local action is needed to deal with problems that are localised and threatening. Global thinking is needed to understand in what way human action is creating disturbances to the grand biogeochemical and other cycles of the planet, and depleting its living resources (through clearing and other practices) and the effect these actions are having on the global commons. New values and ethics are also required to underpin these understandings which need to be shaped and shared across cultures. Global action is required because many problems (climate change, stratospheric ozone layer depletion, acid rain) now transcend national boundaries and can only be solved by determined collective action. The research described in this book shows that the young people surveyed have moved some long way towards an understanding of the significance of global environmental degradation. They rank environmental problems as amongst the most significant facing their individual societies. They have a fair understanding of basic environmental concepts, given their age. Their values and beliefs have moved a long way away from previously dominant paradigms and their assumptions about the unqualified benefits of growth, technology and exploitation of natural resources. These are impressive demonstrations of a significant shift towards the frame of thinking needed for the solution of environmental problems. There are, however, some significant gaps and blind spots in young people’s thinking which seem to reflect serious deficiencies in adult and teacher understandings. It is somewhat ironic, given the pressing nature of many other environmental problems, that so very many young people in every country choose ozone layer depletion as the most important problem facing the world when this is the only one seemingly solved through international action. There is very little understanding of the systemic nature of environmental problems, the way that they are everywhere embedded in socio-economic structures, as UNEP has argued (UNEP, 1997). There is very little if any understanding of the radical nature of the changes in resource productivity (dematerialisation) needed to stabilise adverse environmental trends. Examples are the Factor 10/Factor 4 arguments (UNEP, 1994), the need to reduce material and fossil fuel energy inputs into the economy by 75 per cent to 90 per cent. There is very little understanding of the environmental implications of young people’s own lifestyles. Much more effort therefore needs to be made to educate teachers and others who have influence over young people so that they can pass on to their students accurate assessments of the global state of the environment, now well documented in major reports by UNEP and other responsible sources. Much more effort also needs to be made to prepare young people for the very different responses that will most likely be required in the future. Again there is much good material becoming available for teachers and others to rely upon. Related to the economic transformations, as one example, there are good introductory books on ecological economics and the transformation of industry - see for example the Green Economy (Jacobs 1991) and Natural Capitalism (Hawkins, Lovins and Lovins 1999).

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Implications for Education

The implications of this study for curriculum development and teaching methods in environmental education in the Asia Pacific region are discussed in detail in Environment, Education and Society: Local Traditions and Global Discourses in the Asia Pacific. But what are the implications for individual countries? It is certainly not the role or place of foreign researchers to answer this question. We can only speak for the countries where we live. It is up to education officials, curriculum developers, textbook authors and teachers in each country to identify local implications and implement responses. However, it is possible to identify a series of questions that might guide such discussion and planning – and it is in this spirit that the following set of questions is offered: What do the findings suggest about knowledge and understanding of global and national environmental problems? What are the most significant findings about beliefs, knowledge and behaviour in your country? What relationships do these show between beliefs, knowledge and behaviour? How significant to the future are these patterns? How are these shaped by national patterns of cultural attitudes to nature, economic policies, political decision making, the media and school curricula? What does the difference between current and desired frequency of environmental discussions in class indicate? Is this a desirable pattern? Why? What can be done about this? What does the finding about two sets of concepts with high and low levels environmental awareness and knowledge say about the content of the curriculum? Is this a concern? Why? What actions might be appropriate to address it if it is a concern? What action, if any, needs to be taken to follow-up on the different levels of significance and perceived trustworthiness of sources of environmental information? How significant is the pattern of commitment to different environmental paradigms? What educational experiences might be contributing to this pattern? To what extent is it possible – or desirable – for schools to seek to help students clarify their positions on the New Environmental Paradigm Scale, or even to make them more ‘environmental’ or more ‘technological’ in their outlooks? What role can school play to help students adopt a more positive attitude to taking environmental actions and building their skills in this area? To what extent do common teaching methods and styles of assessment encourage or discourage the development of attitudes and skills to support living in a more sustainable way?

SYNTHESIS: A CROSS-CULTURAL REFLECTION

171

REFERENCES Hawkins, P., Lovins, A. and Lovins, H. (1999). Natural capitalism: Creating the next industrial revolution. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. Jacobs, M. (1991). The green economy: Environment, sustainable development, and the politics of the future. London: Pluto Press. United Nations Environment Programme (1997). Global environmental outlook 1. New York: Oxford University Press. Yencken, D., Fien, J. and Sykes, H. (eds) (2000). Environment, education and society in the Asia-Pacific: Local traditions and global discourses. London: Routledge.

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YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT: AN INTERNATIONAL STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES

Questionnaire

Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Building The University of Melbourne

Faculty of Environmental Sciences Griffith University

INTRODUCTION Dear student, This questionnaire forms part of a study of the environmental attitudes of young people we are carrying out in two cities in Australia and in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The aim of the study is to compare environmental attitudes, knowledge and behaviour in these different cities and countries. We hope that the study will help to develop greater international understanding so that people across the region can work together more effectively. Your contribution is greatly valued. Before you answer the questionnaire, please read these instructions carefully. Please note that this is not a test and that we do not ask for your name. Your answers will not be graded or seen by your teacher and will remain anonymous. Please, however, take the survey seriously because we are trying to find out some important information about environmental attitudes. Please be as honest as you can and answer every question to the best of your ability. It is important that everyone answers all the questions, so that we can get a proper picture of student attitudes. Thank you.

Could you please give us the following information. (Please tick one box only for each question).

A.

Year level:

B.

Age:

C.

Gender:

D.

The main emphasis of your study.

Year 10

Year 11

14

15

Female

Male

16

17

other

Maths Science (eg. Maths, Biology, Chemistry) Humanities (Arts, History, Economics) Business Studies (Typing, Accounting) Other (please specify)

1

The University of Melbourne / Griffith University

Please choose the answers which come closest to your feelings or are most likely to be correct. Please answer if you possibly can. Do not choose the 'not sure' answer unless you really can't make up your mind. 1.

Which one of the following statements do you most agree with. (Please place a tick in one box only). Australians should concentrate on economic growth even if it means some damage to the environment Australians should concentrate on protecting the environment even if it means some reduction in economic growth Not sure

2

Which of the following statements do you most agree with. (Please place a tick in one box only). Economic growth is bound to be at the expense of the environment. It is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. Not sure

3.

Which of the following do you believe will be necessary to achieve significant improvements in environmental quality and performance? (Please tick as many of the boxes as you think are applicable). government legislation and regulation personal lifestyle changes communities working together a radical restructuring of society

4.

Listed below are a range of possible goals for Australia today. (Please number the four most important issues one to four (1 to 4). Place a 1 in the box opposite the issue you think most important (e.g., ),a 2 in the box opposite the issue you think next most important (e.g., ) and so on down to 4). creating a fairer, more humane society protecting the environment improving the liveability of our cities preventing war and nuclear threats reducing unemployment strengthening the economy building strong defence forces protecting freedom of speech improving education standards overcoming poverty limiting population growth

Griffith University / The University of Melbourne

2

5.

Listed below are a range of environmental issues facing Australia and the world. (Please number the four most important issues one to four (1 to 4) separately "For Australia" and "For the World". Place a 1 in the box opposite the issue "For Australia" you think most important (e.g., ), a 2 in the box opposite the issue "For Australia" you think the next most important (e.g., ) and so on down to 4. Do the same "For the World"). FOR AUSTRALIA

FOR THE WORLD

Household rubbish and garbage Soil erosion and land degradation (including salinity) Water pollution Cutting down of forests Destruction of the ozone layer The greenhouse effect Over population The generation of toxic wastes Endangered animals and plants Traffic congestion Air pollution Damage to coastal waters and estuaries/inlets

3

The University of Melbourne / Griffith University

6.

Please consider the following 12 pairs of statements. Each pair represents two different points of view on a particular topic. (Place your views along the scale by circling one number between 1 and 5, where means you strongly agree with the statement on the left, means your views are evenly balanced between the two statements and means you strongly agree with the statement on the right). a. Science and technology have improved our quality of life. b. Because we are human, we are not subject to the laws of nature as are other species. c. People should adapt to the environment whenever possible. d. Modern technology has reduced our freedom and independence. e. Natural resources should be saved for the benefit of future generations. f. Modern industrial countries are very seriously disturbing the balance of nature. g. The earth is like a spaceship, with limited room and resources. h. People must learn to control nature in order to survive. i. Science and technology will always be able to find solutions to our problems. j. Complex technologies will always be risky because of the chance of human error.

k. Economic growth should be given priority over environmental protection. l. Nature should be used to produce goods for people.

Griffith University / The University of Melbourne

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

1

2 3 4

5

1

2 3

1

2 3 4 5

1

2 3 4 5

1

2 3 4 5

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

4 5

Science and technology have worsened our quality of life. Despite our special abilities, humans are subject to the laws of nature like other species. The environment should be changed to meet peoples needs. Modern technology has increased our freedom and independence. Natural resources should be used for the benefit of the present generation. The balance of nature is strong enough to cope with the impacts of modern industrial countries. The earth is vast, with almost unlimited room and resources. People must learn to live in harmony with nature to survive. Science and technology often create more problems than they solve. Complex technologies can be made virtually risk-free through continual improvements. Environmental protection should be given priority over economic growth. Nature should be preserved for its own sake.

4

For the following questions please indicate the option which is closest to your view. 7.

How familiar are you with the following concepts? (Please tick

as many boxes as are applicable opposite each concept). I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF IT

I HAVE HEARD OF IT

WE HAVE DISCUSSED IN CLASS

WE HAVE DISCUSSED AT HOME

The carbon cycle Sustainable development Biodiversity Renewable resources Ecology Intergenerational equity The precautionary principle Interdependence The greenhouse effect The ozone layer Carrying capacity 8.

For a resource to be considered renewable it must be able to: (Please tick

one of the boxes only).

be found in several different places at the same time be re-used several times be continually forming where it is found or capable of being grown be made in the laboratory not sure 9.

The major human impact on the carbon cycle is: (Please tick

one of the boxes only).

planting crops that take up carbon dioxide from the air burning carbon containing fossil fuels and destroying forests increasing the run-off of nutrients from farmland increasing the population and breathing out more carbon dioxide not sure 10.

The term Greenhouse Effect is best described as: (Please tick

one of the boxes only).

excess energy from the sun causing changes in weather patterns the destruction of the ozone layer by CFCs and halons the warming of the Earth's atmosphere by a build-up of gases in the atmosphere not sure 5

The University of Melbourne / Griffith University

11.

The number of plants and animals able to live in a place is restricted by: (Please tick one of the boxes only). how often young are produced the availability of food, water, shelter, etc. predators all of the above not sure

12.

Intergenerational equity (fairness) means that: (Please tick one of the boxes only). the needs of children and grandchildren are catered for the rights of future generations are considered to be as important as the rights of the present generation parents treat children as equals not sure

13.

Damage to the ozone layer is caused by: (Please tick one of the boxes only). hydrocarbons carbon dioxide chlorofluorocarbons all of the above none of the above not sure

14.

Tropical rain forests are important because: (Please tick one of the boxes only). they cause heavy rainfalls in otherwise dry areas they contain valuable timber which can be logged easily without damage to the ecosystem many different species of plants and wildlife are to be found in them they have especially fertile soils not sure

15.

The precautionary principle means: (Please tick one of the boxes only). taking care to balance environmental and economic needs waiting until all the scientific evidence is known when there is uncertainty or conflicting evidence, acting carefully in case the worst possibility happens to be right not sure

Griffith University / The University of Melbourne

6

16.

Indicate which one of the following resources is renewable: (Please tick one of the boxes only). coal copper forests oil

not sure 17.

'Ecology' is best described as the study of: (Please tick one of the boxes only).

the relationship between humans and the environment the relationship between organisms and the environment pollution and its control the environment recycling of products not sure 18.

Sustainable development means: (Please tick one of the boxes only). development we can sustain without damaging or overheating the economy development which meets the needs of people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs development which sustains people above the poverty line development which preserves adequate reserves and parklands for endangered species not sure

19.

Rate your desire to be involved in improving the environment. (Please tick one of the boxes only).

very strong strong medium weak very weak

7

The University of Melbourne / Griffith University

20.

How would you rate your skills and knowledge to bring about environmental improvements even if it is only in a small way? (Please tick one of the boxes only). very high high medium low very low

21.

The following is a list of possible actions to improve the environment. (For each statement, please tick one of the choices only). HAVE DONE IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS

WOULD CONSIDER DOING

WOULD NOT CONSIDER DOING

Choosing household products that are better for the environment Writing a letter, or signed a petition, or attended a meeting etc, with the aim of protecting or improving the environment Deciding for environmental reasons to re-use or recycle something instead of throwing it away Trying to encourage someone else to change an activity or practice that you thought was harmful to the environment Taking part in a clean-up campaign or anti-litter scheme of some kind Making a report or complaint about something that you thought was bad for the environment Making an effort, for environmental reasons, to reduce water consumption Trying to get information for your own interest on some topic that you thought was relevant to protecting the environment Taking part in a tree-planting scheme Making a gift or donation to an environmental or conservation group 22.

Have you ever taken any deliberate action to improve the environment? Yes (Go to Question 23) No (Go to Question 25)

Griffith University / The University of Melbourne

8

23.

If you answered 'Yes' to Question 23 and you have taken action to improve the environment how would you describe your feelings about those actions. (Please tick one of the boxes only). I regret being involved I only feel okay about it I feel positive about the experience I feel really good and motivated to do more

24.

25.

If you have taken action to improve the environment circle the number (e.g., ) which best describes the support you received from the following people: fully some supported indifference antagonistic support

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

Other friends and acquaintances my age

1

2

3

4

People I met that were also involved

1

2

3

4

Teachers

1

2

3

4

Immediate family

1

Close friends

Most people do things that are bad from an environmental viewpoint. What do you think is the reason for the things you do that are bad from an environmental point of view? (Please tick the boxes for the four reasons that most commonly apply to you. Please tick no more than four boxes). I don't clearly understand what is harmful and what is not Cost – I'm more concerned with saving money I'm not interested I don't have time It's more convenient/more comfortable not to be worrying about things like the environment I don't think my actions will make much difference I don't believe everything that people say about damage to the environment I don't like to be told what to do by people in authority such as schools, governments and councils I don't want to do things that are different from what my friends are doing. I know I sometimes do things that are bad for the environment; but I feel there is no practical alternative Other reasons

9

The University of Melbourne / Griffith University

26.

The following are possible sources of information about the environment. For each of these sources please circle the number which best indicates the amount of information about the environment that you have received from that source. most of my some information information

27.

a little information

information

no

television

1

1

3

4

radio

1

2

3

4

newspapers and magazines

1

2

3

4 4

business

1

2

3

friends

1

2

3

4

family

1

2

3

4

school

1

2

3

4

non-government environmental organisations such as ACF, Greenpeace, local environment groups

1

2

3

4

Government environmental bodies

1

2

3

4

For each of these sources please circle the number which best indicates how reliable you think information is from that source. very very okay unreliable unreliable reliable reliable television

1

2

3

4

5

radio

1

2

3

4

5

newspapers and magazines

1

2

3

4

5

business

1

2

3

4

5

friends

1

2

3

4

5

family

1

2

3

4

5

school

1

2

3

4

5

non-government environmental organisations such as ACF, Greenpeace, local environment groups

1

2

3

4

5

Government environmental bodies

1

2

3

4

5

Griffith University / The University of Melbourne

10

28.

How often do you discuss issues such as those raised in this survey with family or friends outside of school classes? (Please tick one of the boxes only). never sometimes (several times during a year) often (at least once a month) regularly (at least once a week)

29.

How often do you think environmental issues should be taught in your classes? (Please tick one of the boxes only). never sometimes (several times during a year) often (at least once a month) regularly (at least once a week)

Thank you for completing the questionnaire.

11

The University of Melbourne / Griffith University